Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister to the House. The European Union victims of crimes directive 2012 provides for certain rights for victims when reporting a crime. These include provision for victims to receive a written acknowledgement of their complaint from the police. The acknowledgement should state the basic elements of the crime, such as the type of crime, the time and place of occurrence and any damage or harm caused by the crime. The acknowledgement should include a file number and the time and place for reporting of the crime to serve as evidence that the crime has been reported.
Furthermore, victims should be provided with information about their rights in sufficient detail to ensure they are treated in a respectful manner and to enable them to make informed decisions about their participation in proceedings. The directive requires that information enabling the victim to know the current status of any proceedings should be provided. The directive states that such information is relevant to enabling a victim to decide whether to request a review of a decision not to prosecute.
In the United Kingdom districts of Kent, Somerset, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire police constabularies are providing such an information service to victims of crime. It can be accessed by the public by logging onto TrackMyCrime.police.uk. In the participating police constabularies victims of crime are given a reference number which they can use to log in to a secure website to get information on the status of the criminal investigation relevant to them.
I believe this Government should introduce a similar online system for victims of crime to follow the progress of Garda investigations. Victims of crime often feel left out in the cold when it comes to the Garda investigation of their cases. They have legitimate questions, such as whether someone been arrested for vandalising a car or whether the Garda has arrested the people breaking into houses in a given area. Victims can become frustrated when they struggle to contact the particular investigating garda, who may be off duty or on patrol. A dedicated website would act as a one-stop-shop information source and would be a great tool for victims. Furthermore, it could be easily updated by the relevant investigating garda.
There has been widespread public support in the UK for the TrackMyCrime.police.ukservice. Diminished resources are available to the Garda. Notwithstanding recent positive announcements it remains the case that the numbers in the Garda have fallen from 14,500 in 2010 to 12,900 today. We have 139 fewer Garda stations now compared with 2011. In a sense we have an under-resourcing problem and there is also the question of how the reduced number of gardaí use the time available to them. Gardaí often spend time trying to get hold of victims to provide them with an update. It seems to me that an easy-to-use online service would fill the information deficit that victims encounter and save on valuable Garda resources as well.
I believe this would be an innovative thing to do. Ireland has a track record in innovative schemes in the criminal justice area - I have in mind the Criminal Assets Bureau. If the Government could think outside the box then, in the context of transposing the victims of crime directive, we could make real progress in assisting victims of crime to get relevant information, for example, information relating to the filing of charges, whether a suspect has been detained or the setting of a court date. Moreover, they could get this information in a more timely fashion than applies currently.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Mullen for putting down this important topic. It gives me the opportunity to address the Seanad on victims' rights. I wish to reaffirm my commitment, which I have articulated on several occasions recently in other fora, to have the EU directive on victims' rights implemented in Ireland next year. This is a priority for me. It is an important directive which will have many implications for the criminal justice system and how victims are dealt with within the system.
The EU directive envisages a scenario whereby victims of crime are recognised and treated in a respectful, sensitive, tailored, professional and non-discriminatory manner in all contacts with victim support or restorative justice services or criminal justice agencies operating within the context of criminal proceedings. I imagine everyone will agree that this should be our objective. Work on the necessary legislation, the victims Bill, is proceeding in my Department and I have attended several meetings on the matter. It will go to the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality in the new year for initial scrutiny. Obviously, we must have it enacted by the due date of 16 November next year.
Side by side with the legislative process, criminal justice agencies are working on practices and procedures to ensure that the legislation is implemented in practice because that is the most important thing. All the agencies are aware that the EU directive is coming in. A new umbrella group of victims' rights organisations have come together and is working with the relevant criminal justice agencies.
A key element of the EU victims of crime directive is the requirement for policing services, in this case, An Garda Síochána, to offer a wide range of information to victims, without unnecessary delay, from the first contact with the police. Recently, An Garda Síochána has undertaken an initiative involving two victim liaison officers. This is being piloted in Waterford city and in Dublin. On foot of the outcome of this trial, An Garda Síochána has decided to establish similar offices in each Garda division to improve the flow of information to victims of crime. This is a welcome development which can be seen throughout the country now. Members of An Garda Síochána will be tasked with keeping victims informed on their rights and providing them with information generally.
The EU victims of crime directive requires a broad range of information on the progress of the investigation and any subsequent court proceedings to be made available on request to victims of crime. I understand one British police force has developed the TrackMyCrime.police.ukinitiative which is now being extended. Senator Mullen has set out the details. This is based on the track-my-parcel system available in commercial courier and parcel delivery companies. The TrackMyCrime system has an intuitive appeal especially since it is available online. As time goes by people are becoming far more familiar with using new technologies, such as e-mail, text, tracking systems, smart phones and apps, in their interactions with commercial enterprises. A suitable TrackMyCrime facility, with the requisite security features to protect privacy, seems like one of an array of tools which An Garda Síochána might usefully consider.

This seems like one of an array of tools which An Garda Síochána might usefully consider. That would be an implementation matter for An Garda Síochána and it is linked to the question of the technology and ICT systems that are available to it. There is significant work to be done in relation to that and I have a commitment to helping An Garda Síochána to upgrade its technology. I am certainly happy to ask the acting Garda Commissioner to examine the desirability and feasibility of a scheme of the kind mentioned. It would be linked to the level of technology currently available to An Garda Síochána, and that does need continuous improvement and upgrading.

I will ensure that the need for systems to support victims will be included in any upcoming allocations I may make in respect of Garda technology. I would hope that if any such system is introduced it would complement rather than replace the personal contact which is implicit in the new model of the Garda victim liaison officers system, which gardaí are developing. There are also other areas where I feel useful developments could take place in support of victims. For example, in recently launching the strategic review of penal policy, which I understand will be debated here in the Seanad, I indicated my intention to bring forward legislative proposals in Government to place the parole board on a statutory basis in the near future. I am also looking at victim representation on that board. The issue of strengthening victims' rights is a key consideration in the preparation of legislation to strengthen the laws on domestic and sexual violence which I consider critical, particularly in the context of my objective for Ireland to ratify the Istanbul Convention, which we are doing.

I thank Senator Mullen for tabling this important issue. It brings to the fore the whole question of victims' rights and how An Garda Síochána and other criminal justice agencies will respond to the EU directive at the operational level.

Rónán Mullen (Independent)
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I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply. I welcome in particular her undertaking to ask the acting Garda Commissioner to examine the possibility and feasibility of introducing a TrackMyCrime system. I would be very much obliged to the Minister if she could provide some further feedback on the acting Commissioner's response to this. I agree with and welcome her comments about the need to ensure that the necessary technology is in place and that there is Government support for such technology. I also agree with her on the personal dimension of victim support, which should not be compromised in the context of improved technological responses. The two go hand in hand.