FIANNA FAIL has produced an unimpressive little document, Leading the Fight against Crime, devoid of fact, analysis, costings or reflection. Full of the now familiar overblown, overstated, pompous rhetoric. Two of its proposals deserve comment, however: the commitment to provide 2,000 extra prison spaces and the pronouncement of its "policy of zero tolerance".
Less than three years ago (June 1994), the then Fianna Fail Minister for Justice, Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, published a report entitled The Management of Offenders: A Five-Year Plan. That report quoted from the 1985 Whitaker report on the prison system: "Given the limited value of imprisonment, its harmful effects and its undoubted costliness, the (Whitaker) committee is firmly of the view that it should be used only as a last resort".
Maire Geoghegan-Quinn's report commented that nine years later this was a view that would not be shared by a majority of the population but stated: "Nevertheless, the views of the committee have substance and must carry weight in any development of policy."
The Management of Offenders report went on to note, as compared with other European states:
"We have a higher than average number sent to prison per 100,000 of the population;
"The number of sentenced offenders at one time was above the average
"We had the highest proportion of juvenile; (under 21) offenders;
"We spent relatively more on prisons as a percentage of GDP than most other countries; and
"We had by far the highest rate of growth in offender numbers (256 per cent) in the period 1970-87."
The Geoghegan-Quinn report commented: "The comparison is a useful guide as to this administration's position in the European `league table' and suggests the need for caution in advocating a continued expansion of the numbers held in custody as a response to the growth in crime. Although some would argue that there is a case for over 800 extra prison spaces and a strong case for 500-600, the Department (of Justice) considers that a more modest expansion combined with an expansion of well-judged supervised releases represents the better way forward."
The Geoghegan-Quinn report concluded that just 200 extra prison spaces were required and that "an upper limit (should be set) of between 2,200 and 2,300 on the number of offenders in custody".
BUT now, less than three years since the Geoghegan-Quinn five-year plan was published, Fianna Fail is promising: "Fianna Fail in government will provide 2,000 additional prison places in a programmed way." There is no mention of the Geoghegan-Quinn report, no explanation why 2,000 extra places are now needed, no identification of the flaws in the reasoning that led her to propose just 200 extra places.
And of course nothing has happened in relation to crime since 1994 to justify any change in policy. There was a minuscule rise in the level of reported crime from 1994 to 1995, and the indications are that there was a drop in the crime level last year.
The Management of Offenders report stated "the prison system is costing about £37,000 a year on average per offender without taking account of capital. And the capital cost of providing new places of detention is, at present, at least £110,000 per place."
Assuming there has been no increase in either the current or capital costs of the prisons system in the three years, the present Fianna Fail proposals on the provision of extra prison spaces would cost £74 million annually, over and above the existing-cost. The capital cost of providing 2,000 extra prison spaces would be £220 million.
Leading the Fight against Crime proclaims "money is not the issue and, in fact, must never be the issue."
The "policy of zero tolerance" has attracted most attention. This, it is said, will "reflect" the principles that no crime is insignificant or will be overlooked; that tolerance of small crimes creates a climate where big crimes flourish; that there is a connection between lesser and more serious crimes; that toleration of lesser crimes sends "the wrong signal" to the law-abiding citizen that the Garda and the Government are ineffective.
How about "zero tolerance" for big crimes? No mention of that at all. There has been lots of tolerance for the crime of tax evasion - it was made a crime in 1983 and since then there has not been a single prosecution. The beef tribunal report unveiled fairly massive crimes - fraud and tax evasion - connected with the Goodman organisation, but not a single prosecution has been taken about that.
BUT back to the new Fianna Fail "principles", what is the evidence of a relevant connection between lesser and more serious crimes or that tolerance of small crimes creates a climate where big crimes flourish?
The view would seem to be based on a half-understanding of the causes for a drop in the crime level in New York and other US cities, arising, in the case of New York, supposedly from new initiatives devised by the former police commissioner, William Bratton.
Bratton's most innovative initiative was to force accountability on the New York police force for the levels of crime in their areas. The evidence is that the "zero tolerance" initiative was a piece of cosmetics which had little impact on crime levels.
Thee Fianna Fail document claims - again without any substantiation - that "up to 80 per cent of all crime in Dublin is related to drugs". Whatever evidence there is suggests that a large proportion of crime is related to the abuse of heroin.
And it is obvious from the report of the Ministerial Task Force, chaired by Pat Rabbitte, that the incidence of heroin abuse is confined almost entirely to the deprived areas of Dublin and Cork.
The gateway to hard drugs is deprivation. The problem of hard drug abuse and the problem of related crime can be solved through the alleviation of that deprivation.
If it was the case that "money is not an issue and, in fact, must never be an issue" in the realm of deprivation, the impact on crime would be enormous. If the £220 million of capital expenditure promised by Fianna Fail to build prison spaces and the £74 million in annual current expenditure were made available to north Cork city, Gallanstown, Neilstown, Dublin inner city, Coolock, Darndale, Drumlin, Ballyfermot and Ballymun, it would transform those areas and transform the incidence of crime.
It would also be socially just. Not that that matters any more.