Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, for coming to the Chamber this morning. Before I commence, I acknowledge that this an issue on which my colleague, Senator Gallagher, has been working for some time in seeking to progress with the Criminal Justice (Public Order) (Amendment) Bill 2019.

To give a bit of context, I raise this Commencement matter following recent attacks on gardaí, of which the Minister of State is well aware, most notably in Ballyfermot last weekend. I do so also in the context of previous attacks going unpunished even when the perpetrators are caught, prosecuted and found guilty. Suspended sentences have frequently been handed down by the courts for such attacks, with this again happening in a case which involved a severe attack on a garda some weeks ago, where perpetrators again walked free having been found guilty. It should also be noted that this is not limited to members of An Garda Síochána. There have been 41 cases of direct physical assault on staff working in ambulance services around the country during 2020 and 2021. As that period covered the pandemic, this figure is lower than it might be in a normal two-year span. I also want to raise the issue in relation to accident and emergency departments, and particularly the accident and emergency department in Galway University Hospital where emergency staff, nurses and doctors have huge issues. There have certainly been instances of this there as well.

Moving on to firefighters, they have also come under attack. Last month, the chief fire officer for Clare outlined that over a two-week period, they had attended more than a dozen calls in one area and, in the majority of cases, colleagues had been attacked.

These people are our first responders and they risk their health and well-being every day when they go out to work. They are being attacked far too often and rarely, if ever, are appropriate sentences handed down to those who carry out such attacks. Members of the general public are really concerned about this. Whether it is sons, daughters, wives or husbands who go out to work, the Government needs to send out the message that this is totally unacceptable.

There is no deterrent to thugs carrying out such attacks. Even if they are successfully prosecuted, more likely than not they will walk out of court on the same day as the trial. As the Minister of State knows, that is what frustrates the public. Both from talking to gardaí myself and from comments made by the Garda Representative Association, it is clear that this issue is increasingly frustrating gardaí, as well it should. It is frustrating those of us who are merely reading about it let alone those witnessing attacks on colleagues which effectively go unpunished.

I also have huge concern given that a number of people in Galway city, in my own area, in their 20s served in the Garda for two or three years but then left the force. It is something we have to be very mindful of. This must change and a clear message must be sent out by Government that attackers of first responders will serve significant time in jail. The Garda Representative Association has called for the introduction of mandatory minimum sentencing to tackle this scourge before it gets out of control altogether. I put my support on the record this morning for this proposal. Other jurisdictions have already taken this necessary step, including Australia where the minimum sentence for anyone convicted of assaulting an emergency working is seven years with a maximum sentence of 15 years for more serious assaults. In the UK, there is a minimum sentence of two years for anyone convicted of assaulting an emergency worker. It is time Ireland also took the necessary measures.

It is time that those who carry out these sickening attacks on our emergency service workers face punishments which reflect the seriousness of their offences. I urge Government and the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, to begin working on this immediately and consult with the appropriate stakeholders and organisations and so on, with a view to having this implemented in 2023.