Laura Harmon (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for joining us for the second time today. It is great to have the opportunity to discuss these matters.

I raise the issue of safety in Cork city. The allocation of gardaí to the city is nowhere near enough compared with the trends in population growth. I am aware that people in other cities have the same view regarding their location. We need more interconnectedness between the work of the Department of Justice and other Departments in regard to crime and safety. For example, if people cannot get a bus home at the end of the night or the service is unreliable, they are at more risk. Predators will take advantage of that situation. The unreliability of public transport certainly is an issue in Cork and it is contributing to people not feeling safe and not going out. I meet people all the time in Cork who say they no longer bother going into town. They stick to the suburbs because they do not feel safe in the city. Cork is a wonderful city with wonderful nightlife and wonderful restaurant options. Businesses must be supported in this. We hear of business owners suffering from having to close their doors if there is crime on the street that is not being tackled.

A welcome development in Cork city is the provision of a mobile Garda station. It is, in essence, a van that travels around and functions as a Garda station. It has been very effective. That initiative needs to be promoted more. When people see more visibility in terms of Garda presence, they feel safer. It is very unfortunate that we have a number of Garda stations in Cork that are not open, including Bishopstown, Ballincollig and Douglas. We have fine buildings that are, in effect, closed most of the time. People do not know where to go if they need a garda.

The current Garda recruitment drive is very welcome. Pay and conditions for gardaí must be adequate.On an average garda salary nowadays, it would be very difficult to purchase a home in this country. Many gardaí emigrate, as do teachers and others in key worker professions. Part of the recruitment also needs to involve a gender perspective. We need to get more women into the Garda. We need to get more diversity in terms of ethnicity because people need to be able to see themselves reflected in the Garda and to feel comfortable reporting a crime.

It was encouraging to hear the Minister speaking about addiction and the need for more of a focus on supporting people with addictions outside prisons. We all agree that crime needs to have consequences but many people living in addiction are already in the prison of their own addiction cycle, which they cannot escape. That applies to drugs, alcohol, gambling and whatever else the addiction may be. It would be transformative if we were to have a more compassionate and healthcare-led approach to addiction. We in Ireland are behind the curve. This is where justice needs to link with education. Even from a young age, we need to educate people about what addiction means as a healthcare issue.

Other Senators, particularly the women Senators, have spoken eloquently about women's safety and domestic violence. I can safely say that as a woman, I have never felt less safe in this country. I felt more safe in my 20s than I do in my 30s. I do not think that is to do with the fact I am a little more aware and worldly now. It is because we hear, day in and day out, about women being attacked and murdered in their own homes. Femicide is an epidemic in this country and we absolutely need to get a grip on it. The issue is connected to the housing crisis. Many women do not have refuges to go to and are trapped in situations because they need to keep a roof over their heads or over their children's heads. That is compounding the issue. Things are interconnected.

Another issue under the brief of the Minister, and one I raised in the House last week, is sex for rent. Unfortunately, people are trying to take advantage of the housing crisis by propositioning people to provide sex in lieu of paying rent. It is abhorrent. We hear that one in 20 female students has seen such an advertisement or has been directly propositioned. There is no stand-alone law outlawing it at the moment. There are laws around intimidation and coercion in this country. The Minister has said he is working with the Attorney General on the matter and we would greatly appreciate an update on that work.