Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. While there are many elements to the Bill that Sinn Féin supports, we are concerned that it is but a plaster and fails to address the underlying issues that are driving the need for such legislation in the first instance. We fear the Bill represents the lack of imagination within the Government in tackling crime and protecting communities. It is a clumsy attempt, not to ensure public safety, but to rescue the political future of Fine Gael as a law and order party. This is particularly the case as regards knife crime. On the proposed increase in the maximum penalty for knife offences, the number of knife seizures has increased from 1,342 in 2013 to 2,186 in 2023. According to correspondence we have received from the Courts Service, the number of convictions is increasing, but we are concerned that this has followed an increase in the maximum sentence, which the Government wants to increase again. This raises concerns about what the issue actually is. Are sentences the issue if the number of detections and prosecutions is increasing despite the increased penalties? The underlying issue appears not to be sentencing, but the availability of gardaí.Available Garda numbers stand at almost exactly the same figure today as when Fine Gael took office, despite the massive population increase in that time. Services such as youth diversion projects and schemes, and other measures, have been decimated. The evidence is there in the seizure statistics, which have largely increased since penalties were quadrupled in 2009. They have especially increased in Dublin, my city, meaning more knives are being carried on the streets despite an increase in sentences. It is unclear how many people are currently receiving the maximum five-year penalty for these crimes. While tougher sentencing can form of a model of deterrence, we need to ask where the gardaí are to investigate and prosecute these crimes. It is not enough to claim to be tough on crime or to make big announcements. The capacity for these sentences to be enforced at a time of an historic shortage of gardaí is greatly reduced.

I turn to the Garda retirement age. The severe shortage of gardaí means that retention is increasingly important. While older members are less likely to be on front-line duties, they can perform important functions. If they are willing to continue serving, they should be allowed do so. In this regard, Sinn Féin welcomes the proposed increase in the Garda retirement age. However, significant outstanding questions remain, including what provisions, if any, have been made to hire extra staff. What updates are there with other non-core duties being removed, and with the Garda Reserve?

Sinn Féin also has concerns about the aspects of the Bill that propose to increase liability fines where no documentation is presented on arrival. This relates to immigration. The increase in the carrier fine is important, but my concern lies in the fact that there are still no guidelines under section 2(8) of the Immigration Act 2003. Is it the Government's intention not to issue this guidance and to rely solely on the threat of fines?

Another reality is that airports are not the main means by which international protection applicants enter the country anymore. Again, I fear the Bill is failing to address the underlying issue, namely, that the immigration system is failing, with the housing crisis being exploited by the far right to undermine civic discourse and undercut progressive campaigns for housing, healthcare and education. The Government is to blame for this. A Sinn Féin government would tackle these underlying reasons for the migration crisis at home and abroad.

As I said, elements of this Bill are welcome. However, it fails to solve the fundamental issues of this Government's own creation - the decimation of youth diversion services, the shortage of active gardaí and the failures of the immigration system. Only a new government and new approach can change course, protect communities and address the underlying issues undermining public safety.