Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. As has been rightly said, the joint policing committees perform very important functions. I am mindful of every small town in the United States which has its town hall and local governance, but in Ireland it could be said that have one of the most centralised states in the western world. I am not sure if this is a symptom of the distrust official Ireland sometimes has for its people or whether it is simply a lack of imagination regarding what could be achieved with real reform of local government. We had the local government reform legislation recently. The effect on joint policing in recent times has been the reduction in the number of these important committees. The Minister introduced the revised joint policing committee guidelines in August, and under those guidelines we will have committees operating at city and county level following the abolition of town councils. There will be just over 30 joint policing committees, which will be approximately a quarter of the number we have had. That reduction will sever an important connection that has existed between local communities and those who keep them secure.
In its submission on the new guidelines, the Association of Criminal Justice Research and Development raised some interesting points regarding international best practice. It pointed out that in the UK, under section 97 of the Police Reform Act 2002, the British equivalent of joint policing committees includes a wider range of actors, including police authorities, fire and rescue services and primary care trusts. The UK uses the model of community and police consultative groups. The historical context for those groups was the Brixton riots of 1981. Since 2005, membership has been extended to include the local fire brigade chief, local courts and local prosecutors. In some areas they have been renamed as public safety boards to move the group away from the original focus on policing to a wider context of safety within communities. Would that be a welcome development that could be instructive and useful for the Irish model? I urge the Minister to consider widening the remit of the joint policing committee model to embrace this wider public safety role. The way forward is not to reduce the number of policing committees because that severs important links of trust between those tasked with public safety and the communities they guard. For the sake of local democracy and participation by people in important local issues, we should not be moving in that direction.
I want to raise and flag with the Minister and issue which I might table as a matter on the Adjournment at some stage. We recently heard in the Oireachtas from the Irish Tourist Assistance Service, which is doing great work, and many volunteers have contributed to assisting tourists. Approximately 13,000 tourists have been victims of crime in this country during the past 20 years. The ITAS does great work helping people out formally and informally in providing them with basic needs in emergency situations. Tourists are often particularly vulnerable in that they may not speak the language and may be isolated or on their own. One of the issues that came up in our discussion with the ITAS was the 2012 EU directive which establishes minimum standards on the rights and protection of victims of crime. We are required to implement that directive by November 2015. It is legally binding. It will ensure victims of crime will have the same rights to support and protection regardless of where in the EU the crime is committed. I understand that one of the rights in question is the right of the victim to receive information throughout the criminal justice process. The onus will be on the State to ensure the victim is kept informed about developments in their case. Many victims, especially tourists although not only them, find it difficult to receive information about their case. When a tourist returns to their home country, contacting the Garda station for information can be very costly and time consuming only to discover that the garda is not on duty. There is currently no way to contact the garda or Garda station via e-mail.
Britain has introduced the Track My Crime service, which allows victims of crime to access the progress of the investigation of their crime as well as contact the officer leading the investigation. Would such a service be useful for all victims of crime in this country, particularly in cross-Border cases? This service has been adopted by the UK police districts of Kent, Somerset, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire. It is a service accessed by the public by logging into a website available at trackmycrime.police.uk. Victims of crime are given a reference number which can be used to log in to a secure website to get information on the status of the criminal investigation concerning them. I know there is information that could not be given to victims in such cases, but what about the information that can be given? Victims of crime often feel left out in the cold when it comes to the police investigation of their cases. They have legitimate questions such as whether someone has been arrested for vandalising their car, or whether the Garda has arrested the people breaking into houses in their area. Victims can become frustrated when they find it difficult to contact an investigating garda who may be off duty or on patrol, but a dedicated website could act as a one-stop-shop information source, which could be a great tool for victims and is something that could be easily updated by the investigating garda. There is widespread public support in the UK for information being made available on the investigation of crimes. An online service could satisfy the needs of victims of crime, be they whether a suspect has been detained, charges have been filed or a court date has been set. We have introduced innovative schemes in the criminal justice area, not least the Criminal Assets Bureau, It would be beneficial were we to think outside the box again. Would this not also be required on foot of the directive? I know the Minister does not have an opportunity to respond again but it is something I would like to take up with her at a later point.