The Taoiseach defended the Government's record on crime in the face of renewed Opposition attacks.
Mr Ahern said that while there were "crime, attacks and difficulties", members of the Opposition should not "instil fear by saying that everyone who goes out at night risks being attacked". The Fine Gael leader, Mr Michael Noonan, said fear of crime had increased in huge proportions. He asked Mr Ahern if he was aware that a recent survey found 90 per cent of parents were afraid their teenage son or daughter would be assaulted at night.
"Is he aware that 70 per cent of people are afraid in their own neighbourhoods at night, even in those which would be regarded as the better suburban areas? Is he aware that over 90 per cent of people are afraid to walk on Dublin's O'Connell Street at night? Is he aware that 94 per cent of people are afraid of serious personal assault to themselves?
"In the dying days of the Government what does the Taoiseach intend to do to remove the fear of crime which is now pervasive throughout the country?"
The Labour leader, Mr Ruairí Quinn, asked Mr Ahern if fear of crime would be alleviated if there were more gardaí on the beat, providing a sense of reassurance. Mr Ahern said he accepted that the public felt more confident when they saw uniformed gardaí on the street.
"It is welcome that there are now over 900 extra gardaí in the force. I welcome the special units that are now in existence and co-ordinated under one assistant commissioner." He added that crime prevention schemes directed towards young offenders were working very effectively.
"We have introduced the necessary legislation and allocated additional resources to ensure that it works effective," he said.
Mr Noonan said "ordinary, decent young fellows" accepted as a fact of life that they risked being assaulted randomly and in an unprovoked fashion when they were socialising. "Young women are afraid to walk home alone, even if it is only a couple of hundred yards. The thugs have taken over the streets while the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform arrogantly preaches about the concept of zero tolerance which never happened anywhere but in his own imagination."
Mr Ahern said that the picture painted was not a true one and that Garda stations around the country "show a huge reduction in crime". An Opposition motion, critical of the Government's handling of serious crime, was defeated by 69 votes to 63.
