"I WILL repeat what I said when I was on the Opposition benches, that it is not an exaggeration to say the drugs and crime problem is the greatest epidemic since the outbreak of TB. Unless we treat the crime problem with such seriousness, we will not solve it, irrespective of what laws we pass.
There is an element of point scoring and political game playing associated with it, but they do not contribute to solving the problem.
We need a comprehensive plan to deal with this problem and some elements of it are in place, but by no means is it complete.
Many people, who are not elected politicians, are playing politics with the crime problem. People outside this House play games and play members off against each other and some of them are well remunerated to do their jobs.
Officers of this State who are remunerated to do a particular job should be made more accountable. We should seek to ensure that politics is left to the politicians, an issue on which Mr Justice Carney commented during the week. The leaking of evidence to journalists which could prejudice a case, as in the case of a dispute between Garda management and Garda trade unions whereby somebody gets a favour which can be called on at a latter stage, is not the way to run the Garda force from either side, but such games are being played.
I will repeat what I said a few weeks ago. There was a time when a TD could have a Garda moved, but now a Garda can have a TD moved. It is time that we had the courage to stand up and say that.
It is what we are all saying sotto voce. We must not put the cart before the horse. The Garda force must be fully supported, but we are entitled to require from it that its members behave in a totally impartial, non-political manner and keep their noses out of politics, whether they are members of Garda management or Garda trade unions.
I wish the incoming Garda Commissioner well and he has a difficult task ahead of him, but he should keep away from high society receptions and meet the ordinary people in the community. If Garda management spent more time meeting the local community it would get a feel for people's concerns about crime. People, politicians, civil servants or members of the public are saying sotto voce that the present Garda operation is not contributing fully to solving this problem. For that reason the examination of the Garda force is important.
When the elements of the plan are fully in place a type of implementation council ... should be established, where those responsible for elements of it can come together and shortcomings can he dealt with by directing people to address them. Unless there is such accountability, we will fail to solve this problem.
Prisons
The prison system should not be part of the problem, it should be part of the solution. Mothers accept that their sons have done wrong and should serve their sentences, but they plead with me to ensure that their sons do not serve their sentences in Mountjoy. They tell me that their sons do not take drugs and, if sent to Mountjoy, they will come out of prison taking drugs. That is the prison system which this Government administers. I and both sides of this House are part of the problem because we have allowed it to develop.
Housing estates
Having been a member of the housing committee of Dublin Corporation for 16 years, Lord Mayor of Dublin, a Member of this House since 1981. I wrote to Dublin Corporation about a house in my constituency two weeks ago. I stated that the house is the corporation's house, that the elderly and feeble tenants on either side of it are terrified, that it is open day and night and the door lock is broken, that there is a drug pusher staying in the house and all types of people are frequenting it, that the people next door are finding needles in their garden and asked it to do something about the problem.
I received a letter from Dublin Corporation a fortnight later thanking me for my representations and advising that if I could get four local people to put the complaint in writing it would be investigated.
We will not solve the problem unless we bring the management and tenants of the authority, the Garda and the trade unions involved together. We have the necessary funds to train them together to manage their estates.
If we restore order in the prison system, in estate management, in the Garda Siochana and throughout the system, we will help solve the crime problem.
Judiciary
We have created an unprecedented number of judges. It was recommended by the Denham Committee that we might consider establishing a type of court services authority, which I favour. I want a tough person appointed chief executive of such an authority who will stand up to the judges and say that the administration of the courts will not be at the mercy of the judges and that it is there to serve the people not the judicial system.
The judges have got away with murder for long enough. They have a well remunerated, difficult job and are honourable, but they must be called to account. As they are paid out of the public purse we are entitled to require that they deliver a proper service.
Furthermore, they should get out among the people whom they do not live among.
We are entitled to say to the judges that we have had enough of their interfering with the legislature and the executive. The tail will have to be wagged a bit and judges will have to change the way they do their business. That is what is called establishing order.
Social justice
I have not heard enough in this debate about the absence of social justice. Never at any stage in our history has the country been as materially well off as it is now yet there are terrible divisions in society.
In the inner city part of my constituency some IS per cent of people have access to third level education. What view would Members of this House have of themselves if they lived in a community where there was no access to third level education, huge unemployment and where housing estate management is left to go to rack and ruin?
Drug addicts
The Eastern Health Board has a plan for treating drug addicts. I used to be horrified by the idea of exchanging needles but I have overcome that fear because needles are being abandoned everywhere. In church grounds and school yards young and old alike can prick themselves with such needles and must then worry about whether they have contracted HIV.
The health board has come up with a plan. I do not know if it will work but we should give it a try because it was proposed by qualified people. We should keep it under review and should be able to amend it or adjust it if we have an implementation council.
However, although it is a community based approach, the resistance to this plan is coming from the very communities the Eastern Health Board is trying to help.
As elected representatives in those communities we are all over the place but we would perform a public service if we stopped going to meetings where all sorts of irrational nonsense about these issues is applauded. Instead, the health board should consult people by way of public information days from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. I gather the board is about to do this and in that way they cannot be descended upon by large numbers.
We have moved greatly towards filling the vacuum with some of the laws we have put forward but it will not work unless we also tackle the order problem and unless there is somebody tough and determined enough to upset a few people.
I am sick and tired of listening to permanent paid officials lecturing the legislature and the executive. It is time we gave them a lecture and told them to do the job they were appointed for.