After 10 years in office, the Fianna Fáil / Progressive Democrats coalition has failed its own test for combating crime, Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte said today.
He said former minister for justice John O'Donoghue had stated the public would judge the success of Government policy on whether they felt safer. "The verdict must be that it has failed miserably," Mr Rabbitte said.
Speaking at the launch of the party's plans for creating safer communities, Mr Rabbitte said Minister for Justice Michael McDowell was "a master of self-promotion", but crime figures show he "has spectacularly failed to deliver".
"Last year 26 people died in gun murders, the highest figure in the history of the state yet the statistics over the past ten years show that convictions are secured in only about one in six of such cases.
"At the other end of the scale anti-social behaviour is ravaging communities right across the country, affecting our cities and towns, but most especially working class estates," Mr Rabbitte said.
He said petty crime and anti-social behaviour would be tackled by a more visible Garda presence which would be achieved through the party's commitment to have at least 1,500 community officers "living in their own communities, policing areas they know". He said that "a fundamental shift in approach to policing" was also needed.
The party's justice spokesman Brendan Howlin reform of the Garda Síochána to be driven by a new Garda authority, incorporating the recently created Ombudsman Commission and Garda Inspectorate. Mr Howlin proposed:
- revise rostering to get more gardai on the street
- implement a comprehensive civilianisation programme
- open senior Garda recruitment to external candidates
- use performance data to drive innovation in tackling crime
- streamline top-heavy Garda management
"In a democratic society like ours we need clearly democratic oversight of An Garda Síochána. This can only be achieved by the creation of an independent Garda authority," Mr Howlin said.
The level of change over the past 20 years meant that "the new Ireland needs new policing", he added.
In response, Fianna Fáil's Brian Lenihan said Labour was "weak on crime". "Labour clearly are not up to the job. The want only 15,000 gardaí - we will provide 16,000," he said in a statement.