Fine Gael will introduce mandatory minimum sentences for violent assault and so-called joyriding if elected to government.
The party's justice spokesman, Mr Alan Shatter, said a range of minimum sentences would be introduced to act as a deterrent to criminals, such as a three-month jail term for car theft where no injury had resulted.
Crimes that carry a maximum five-year sentence would have a two-year minimum sentence, he said.
"Once found guilty the judge could not sentence someone below a number of years . . . This is so we can take a tough approach towards people who know they will just receive a fine or the Probation Act," he said.
The pledge, included in their policy document released yesterday afternoon in Huntstown Community Centre in Dublin West, was not mentioned in the party's overall manifesto.
Asked why, a Fine Gael spokesman, Mr Vincent Gribbin, said that through- out the course of the election the party would be publishing policy documents that featured elements not included in the manifesto.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, said violence on the streets was an issue that touched every family in the country.
"Everyone either has experienced or has a fear that their son, nephew or daughter might be set upon in random acts of wanton violence," he said. Fine Gael's "safe streets campaign" was a reaction to the failure of the Government's zero-tolerance policy. The party's approach was not based on an empty slogan but instead echoed Mr Tony Blair's mantra "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime", he said.
As part of its crime policy, the party has called for a more visible Garda presence, an increase in CCTV systems, more night courts and a Garda commission to examine police efficiency and resources.
Community service orders will be handed down to juveniles, and a victim's rights Bill enacted. Steps will be taken to ensure more places are available for children up to the age of 16 given residential sentences by courts.
Mr Noonan said: "A recent Fine Gael survey showed that nine out of 10 people were afraid to walk in Dublin city centre at night . . . Law-abiding young people are now avoiding the centres of cities and towns for fear of unpro-voked attack."
Mr Shatter later challenged the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, to release the 2001 Garda report which details assault figures.
He said the Minister was suppressing the report in advance of the election because the figures showed an escalation in the number of assaults that took place nationally last year.