THE Minister for Justice told the AGSI conference that the Government would provide "whatever legislative backup is necessary in the fight against crime". But responding to the address by the AGSI president, Mr John Durcan, Mrs Owen gave no indication that reform of the bail laws was imminent.
She said she was consulting with Government colleagues on "comprehensive proposals to tackle the problem of persons offending while on bail". But she added. "We already have many relevant pieces of legislation allowing for very severe prison sentences".
The Minister went off script to say that when she proposed a change in the bail laws last year, she had possibly considered the issue more simple than it was.
She now thought it needed more consideration.
However, she also called into question Garda figures for the number of offences committed by people on bail, set at 4,416 out of over 100,000 indictable offences in the force's report for 1994. She said these figures "are not that certain" and the way they are gathered must be examined.
The Minister's comments are likely to be seen as indication that the Government is moving towards a policy of more severe sentences for those who offend while on bail, and away from refusing bail to those considered likely to re-offend.
In her opening remarks, Mrs Owen thanked the force for its response to the BSE "emergency" and the threat of cattle smuggling on the Border. She said substantial numbers of gardai had now been assigned "specifically to Border duty on a 24 hour, seven day week basis."
Mrs Owen rejected the suggestion that Garda associations be given trade union status. She said it had been the policy of governments since the foundation of the State "not to allow the Garda Siochana the right to strike". There were "substantial grounds for continuing the policy".
However, she acknowledged that there was a need "to bring the Garda associations closer to the determination of public pay policy" in the context of national wage agreements. She said the associations and Department officials should meet and try to find an approach which would allow this in a manner consistent with the Garda's position under trade union law.
She said if there were difficulties with the conciliation council referred to by Mr Durcan, it should be possible for "frank and friendly" discussions to overcome them.
The Minister also told delegates that gardai had "benefited, like all other groups, under the various national understandings and that they have fared reasonably well under the conciliation and arbitration scheme in processing particular claims.
"The justification for a special commission on pay is really not there, and I am afraid that I could not support the idea".
Regarding the level of crime, the Minister reviewed the new legislation being put in place and her plan for extra prison spaces. She reminded delegates of her proposal for a crime council, in which all groups interested in crime policy could participate. It would mean that "the recognised need for a broadly based response to crime will become a reality as opposed to an interesting debating point."
Although she did not directly respond to Mr Durcan's call for the Garda to take charge of all operations against the drug trade, she said a number of new measures added up to "actions that will turn the tide against the traffickers". A joint Garda Revenue Commissioners' review of co-operation between the two groups had been finalised and would go before Government shortly.
Referring to complaints about the condition of Garda stations, the Minister said that since 199 more than £24 million had been spent on maintenance and new works and £9 million was allocated for the current year. However, she said that where there were accommodation problems, senior Garda management should be "sensitive to the needs of gardai working in these conditions, so that tensions can be kept to a minimum".
Finally, the Minister noted a conference motion calling for a reinstatement of the Murder Squad. "Lest there be any doubt in the public mind, the Murder Squad was not disbanded," she said.
"The Investigation Unit commonly known as the `Murder Squad' which was attached to the Technical Bureau at Garda Headquarters was decentralised on a divisional basis in 1988. There is still a pool of expertise retained at Garda Headquarters which can be called upon to assist in murder investigations".
She added that she wanted to congratulate gardai who had been involved in, recent investigations into suspicious deaths. She said charges had been brought, in a number of cases due to their "diligent and painstaking investigation".