Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is a great honour to be before Seanad Éireann for the second time. I was here last week talking about a youth mobility scheme the EU is implementing with the UK and our intention to opt into it. I am back today to talk on an issue that probably is of more central importance to my function as Minister for Justice, that is, the whole area of crime, policing and community safety. I repeat what I said at the outset last week, namely, that I take very seriously my duty of being accountable to the Houses of the Oireachtas. It is a great privilege to be Minister for justice, home affairs and migration. There are many talented people in Dáil Éireann and in this House who would do this job excellently and would love the opportunity to do it. I am fully aware it is a great privilege to have the job. I want Senators to know I will work tirelessly at it. I also want them to know that, clearly, I do not have any monopoly of wisdom in respect of the issues. I have great respect for people elected to the Houses of the Oireachtas. I will listen to what Members of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann say about how I should proceed and what steps can be taken to improve community policing and community safety.

One of the priorities of the Government, and one of mine as Minister for Justice, is to try to ensure people are living in communities that are safe and enjoyable. It is important to be clear that we will never get rid of criminal activity. There will always be some level of crime in society. What infuriates people is that when crime inevitably happens, they want to see a system in place to respond to it.The primary way by which that is done is through having An Garda Síochána investigate when complaints of criminal activity are made. If those complaints are upheld and valid, we then need to ensure we have a criminal justice system that can adjudicate on whether the crimes deserve the imposition of punishment. If there is an imposition of punishment, we need to look at other aspects other than sentencing terms of incarceration. An issue I am anxious to bring forward is the development of community sanctions. Our prisons are places that should be reserved for people who are violent and who are a threat to others within the community. We need to look at more innovative methods of trying to impose penalties on people who are not violent and who find themselves before the criminal justice system because of personal issues such as addiction or other issues.

A huge amount of my focus will be on An Garda Síochána. Nothing I want to do or the Government wants to achieve can be achieved without the support and success of An Garda Síochána. When a crime is committed, the first port of call a victim has is to contact An Garda Síochána. Unless the force is properly resourced and given adequate powers which are clear and definable, we are not providing an appropriate system for people to ensure they feel a sense of safety.

At present in An Garda Síochána we have 14,100 members. It is not enough for a country of our size. We also have, however, about 3,500 civilian staff within An Garda Síochána. The objective of civilianisation was to try to get people who are not gardaí doing the jobs we do not want gardaí to do. Our primary focus and my primary focus when it comes to An Garda Síochána is to try to create the climate which allows gardaí to be more visible in our community. As I have said before, we are lucky in this country in that the vast majority of people are supportive of the police force in this country. They want to see gardaí on their streets. In some other parts of the world that does not exist. I am sure most Senators here will be aware from going to meetings in their local community that one of the things repeated most is that people want to see more members of An Garda Síochána on the street. That is something positive. It shows that there is general confidence in the Garda. It is also something that imposes an obligation on someone like me and on the Government to ensure we get membership numbers up in An Garda Síochána and that we do not have members of the force doing things such as bureaucratic office jobs. We do not want to do that.

At present we have a recruitment drive in the force. It is part of my job, as Minister for Justice, to try to encourage people to join the police force. Sometimes being a member of An Garda Síochána is a bit like politics. There is a lot of negative coverage about the fact that being a garda is a tough job. There is a lot of reference to the abuse and criticism gardaí get on social media. I am sure that is correct in the same way it is correct for Members of this House and Dáil Éireann as well. I do not think we can allow that narrative to be the dominant message when it comes to being a member of An Garda Síochána. It is a fulfilling and rewarding job. It is an interesting job that requires people to do diverse actions every day. My job is to ensure people are aware that it is a much more multifaceted and fulfilling job than is presented. The tagline for the recruitment campaign is that it is a job worth doing. I am very clear that it is.

In terms of the different type of criminal activity in the country, I am aware that it is going to be impossible to get rid of all criminal activity. Nobody expects a politician or government to do that. It is important to distinguish certain types of criminal activity. The type of criminal activity that has a significant impact on an individual is when violence is inflicted on them. Anyone in this House will be aware, from speaking to constituents and from talking to councillors, that it has a very debilitating and negative impact on the victim if they have been subjected to acts of violence or, indeed, acts of sexual violence against them because of their gender. That is something we need to adopt a strenuous approach towards. People need to know that if that happens to them, there will be swift response by the State to their complaint and there will be an appropriate progression of a case from investigation by the Garda, to the courts, and to a sanction if the person is convicted. That is one of the major focuses I will have in respect of violence against the individual.

I commend my predecessor as Minister, Deputy Helen McEntee, who did an excellent amount of work in respect of gender based violence. In fact, tomorrow morning I will be at a reception for a further launch by Cuan, which is the statutory body to combat domestic and gender-based violence. It is extraordinary to think people say more men are victims of violence than women. The distinguishing thing about violence against women is that it is predominantly committed within a relationship. The fact there is a relationship there and the attacker of the person is somebody known to them is something that should send warning signals to us. It is also something that should make it easier, if I can use that term, to try to combat it. We know the environment within which women, predominantly, are going to be exposed to gender-based violence. We need to ensure there are mechanisms in place to deal with that.

I am conscious that Senator O'Loughlin is here. She played a significant role during the previous term of the Seanad in respect of issues such as putting together a register for domestic violence. That is something I am working on and would like to see brought forward. I also have the Guardianship of Infants Act issue, which can arise when one partner commits a crime of violence, whether murder or manslaughter, against another partner, and a situation develops where they retain guardianship of any surviving children. That is an issue that needs to be looked at. I have asked my Department officials to have a look at and I will be bringing forward legislation in respect of that shortly.

I am conscious that the whole area of my brief includes issues of national security. I know that is not the focus of the debate in this House today, but it is relevant because An Garda Síochána is responsible for national security in this country. The responsibility for that rests with it and it has to be resourced in respect of that. That is another branch in respect of community policing. Many of the Senators were Members of the previous Oireachtas and so will be aware that the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act was enacted by the Houses of the Oireachtas in 2024. It has not yet been commenced, meaning I have to sign a statutory instrument stating the Act is now in place. It is important that is done in the very near future. I am aiming to do it in March. The reason for such urgency is that it is complementary series of statutory provisions in respect of policing and An Garda Síochána. Members will be aware the term of office of the current Commissioner comes to an end in the summer. We need to ensure the new statutory regime for the appointment of a new Commissioner is in place so it can happen without delay and so all the statutory provisions are given effect to.

I thank everyone for listening to me and I am here to listen to the Senators.