Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment to the motion tabled by my colleague, Senator O'Donovan, and will explain the rationale behind Fianna Fáil's decision to table an amendment that refers to resources. In common with Senator Norris, I am a member of my local joint policing committee, at which we take reports on activity in the area and the work the Garda is doing. In addition, at every meeting we also discuss the issue of resources because it is a difficulty for the gardaí locally. It is bizarre to divorce the idea of the joint policing committees from the resources the Garda is given to do its job. The committees are excellent and are good from the perspective of public representatives. I find them to be very useful in terms of interacting with the Garda and with council officials because it is often the case that were the council to do its job properly in brightening up areas that are subject to anti-social behaviour because they are dark alleyways or overgrown lane-ways and so on, it would result in the Garda being obliged to dedicate fewer resources to such matters. Consequently, it is important to have in place those partnerships, to have the local authority and the Garda working together and have public representatives as part of that process. We have held a number of local meetings and while they are not necessarily all that well attended, one gets representatives from community bodies, neighbourhood associations and people like that who interact with the Garda at such meetings, which is very useful.

However, the reason Fianna Fáil's amendment refers to resources is because the lack of resources in the justice system and the cuts that have been made in recent years are having a real impact. Moreover, this is reflected in the statistics the Garda presents to us at our joint policing committee meetings. The Minister is more than aware that there has been a huge increase in burglaries in Dublin. There was an increase of 1,000 burglaries last year, which is a serious issue. From my local perspective, it appears to be targeted in particular at areas that contain a lot of elderly people. They appear to be targeting established estates in which there are a lot of older people who are living alone. They go out to mass or to bingo or something like that during the week and return only to find their house has been burgled. This is causing a great deal of fear within the community. Similarly, there was a tiger kidnapping in Bayside recently in which, thankfully, the gardaí reacted very well and rapidly and within no time they had apprehended one of those involved.

Again, however, the gardaí can only do that for which they have the resources and in this regard one big issue concerns the Garda fleet. I appreciate that an investment in the Garda fleet was announced yesterday, as was noted by an earlier speaker. However, I am interested in whether that answers the question as to how much this actually will mean. Will it simply mean the replacement of some of the worst cars, on which the mileage is ridiculous? Will it provide proper vehicles to the Garda? The idea of gardaí attempting to chase somebody in a car with 1.4 L engine is ridiculous, as they need high-speed, high-performance vehicles to be able to keep up with those who are fleeing the scene of a crime, often on motorbikes and so on. Consequently, I consider this to be an essential issue in respect of Garda resources.

In addition, the Garda is suffering from a serious manpower problem and I followed with interest the announcement made yesterday about the 200 additional gardaí. Unless I am mistaken, that is the final tranche of the 300 additional gardaí who were announced by the then Minister, Deputy Shatter, last year. All 300 were meant to have been put in place this year in July, September and December. While the July recruitment did not take place, there was recruitment in September and I understand the Minister intends to have further recruitment in December, which I welcome. However, 300 will not even keep up with retirements, which is a point made yesterday by the Garda Representative Association. Approximately 350 people leave the force each year through retirements or for other reasons, yet over the two years only 300 recruits in total will have been brought in, which will not even retain numbers at their present levels. This is a serious issue when one considers the increase in the number of burglaries and that murders and kidnappings have increased by 30%. I believe gardaí do an exceptional job of trying to police neighbourhoods, to keep on top of crime and to have a visible presence, in order that they are not simply apprehending people at the scene of a crime but also are providing a deterrent. However, such visibility has been lacking in recent years and as the Garda Representative Association described it yesterday, 200 additional members is merely a band-aid for the Garda in terms of current resources.

This is the reason Fianna Fail referred to resources in its amendment. I fully support the sentiment in the motion regarding the importance of joint policing committees and that deserves cross-party support across the House. I welcome the earlier remarks from Senator Hayden acknowledging that Fianna Fáil in government brought in that system and Fianna Fáil will work with the Government at any level to improve it. There also is room for improvement in making sure the joint policing committees, JPCs, work better and that in particular, the public is kept informed in order that it is not simply public representatives but that there is broader visibility of the committees' work. However, it would be remiss of Members and somewhat strange to discuss the committees without considering the underlying issue of resources because I reiterate it is an issue that comes up constantly at my local JPC. I would be surprised were this not the same nationwide as people's areas are being hit by reductions in the number of gardaí on the street, by vehicles that are not being replaced and by Garda station closures, to which Fianna Fáil's amendment also makes reference. While I support the original motion in that respect, I believe that as a House, Members must send out a strong message that the Minister should be getting greater resources and that the Seanad is behind her in respect of her work at the Cabinet in doing this and in securing greater resources for the Garda in order that it can do its job effectively. It was in this spirit that we tabled the amendment.