The Gazette 1974

ESTIMATES OF DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

(DAIL DEBATES—VOL. 270, No. 3)

12 FEBRUARY 1974

Mr. Cooney, the Minister for Justice:

I propose, as is traditional, to give a brief resumé in

Aspect of the period since the last debate on the

Estimates for the Department of Justice of the most

Noteworthy developments in the various services for

hich I am the responsible Minister.

My basic concern must be the security and safety of

me State. Unless the State and its citizens and its

Mstitutions can be kept secure from attack no progress

ran be made in the fields of economic or social reform.

Unfortunately we have within our society at the

Moment a small group of organised subversives whose

Presence constitutes a threat to the security of the

Mate.

I indicated that peace and security were necessary if

are to make progress in economic and social reform.

m charged as Minister for Justice with control over

Sireat variety of social legislation—adoption, the whole

Ma of family law, which raises the problem of deserted

ves, their rights against their husbands and rights

to the family home, annulments, guardianship of chil-

d r e

n and also the question of rent control, ground

Ms, landlord and tenant law, censorship of publica-

t l 0 n

and films. Th e re are other areas for which I have

sponsibility with a highly important legal content

Mch as the Land Registry, Public Records Office,

harity Commissioners and the operation of the Courts

toerns

ves

Indeed, it could be said that these latter

°tivities also have a high social content.

. When one hears them listed out it will be noticed

* some of these areas require legislative changes,

ps towards bringing in those changes have already

en taken. Wh at I want to emphasise at this

ge is that while they are all urgent it is not possible

'ntroduce all these reforms instantly. Wh at is possible

steady programme of reforming legislation right

hrough my term of office. I intend to see that this

pro;gramme is carried through to a successful con-

tusion and I want to emphasise that in drawing up the

^ ' o rms I will be in touch with groups who have a

Nowledge or special interest in the particular area in

Mo t i on.

unningdale Conference

I We are entering a particularly critical phase of Irish

•story with the Sunningdale communique, the forma-

°n of a power-sharing Executive in Northern Ireland

a n

d the approaching formal conference to confirm

acc

eptance of the agreed communique that was signed

a t

the end of the Sunningdale Conference. These events

ve within themselves the capability of achieving peace

j.°

this island and it is important for that reason and

the continued security and welfare of this State

a t

these initiatives succeed.

I should like to refer very briefly to the agreed com-

btoniqué issued at the end of the Sunningdale Con-

^tonce in December and, particularly, to two of the

ments in the communique th^t concern me as Minis-

Justice. First, there is the Law Commission that

a<;

been set up jointly by the Irish and British Govern-

>ts to consider all the proposals that had been put

ward at Sunningdale for dealing with the problem of

Mging to trial persons who commit crimes of violence,

however motivated, in this island and to recommend as

a matter of urgency the most effective means of dealing

with those who commit those crimes. Secondly, there L

the police authority to be set up here, appointments to

which will be made after consultation with the

Council of Ministers of the Council of Ireland.

As the House will be aware, the Law Commission

have already begun their work. As regards the setting

up of a police authority enabling legislation will be

necessary and initial preparatory work of gathering

information and ideas has already begun. I will shortly

be having consultations and discussions on the matter

with the Garda authorities and the Ga r da Representa-

tive Bodies before bringing my proposals before the

House. I fully recognise the importance of having their

views on a matter of such fundamental importance to

their Force.

Control of explosives; General crime figures

The stringent controls that ..ave been in operation

for some time now with regard to the use and storage

of explosives are being continued. The controls which

were extended during 1972 to certain ammonium nitrate

mixtures, sodium chlorate and nitrobenzine are aLo

being maintained. I am aware that this has caused in-

convenience to commercial users of the materials con-

cerned but I know that they will appreciate how neces-

sary it is to have the existing security arrangements.

The protection of life and property is of primary im-

portance and, so long as the situation requires it, the

Government will strive to ensure that materials for

bomb making do not get into the wrong hands.

At the outset I should like to refer to the general

crime situation. The crime figures increased again in

1972 but the rate of increase was much less than in

1971. These are the latest figures available. I am

pleased to be able to say that the indications are that

the steep upward trend of recent years may have been

halted. In the year ended 30 September, 1972, 39,237

indictable offences were recorded as against 37,781 in

the previous year, an increase of 3.8 per cent. Two

thirds of these consisted of offences against property

without violence, mainly larcenies, and I would remind

the House that larcenies, generally, even where the value

of the money or goods stolen is trivial, are indictable

offences. In the vast majority of the cases of offences

against property, either with or without violence,

which were recorded during the year, the value of the

property stolen was less than £50.

Offences against the person have been almost con-

stant over the past four years, but offences against

property showed a small increase of 4.4 per cent over

the 1971 figure.

Indictable offences

Proceedings were instituted by the gardai in respect

of 15.705 indictable offence; known to them or 40 per

cent of the total. The overall detection rate fell to 43

per cent as compared with 46 per cent in the previous

year. In the Dublin Metropolitan Area the detection

rate was 34 per cent while in the rest of the country

it was 58 per cent. For some of the more serious crimes,

the detection rate was as high as 90 per cent while for

certain categories of less serious offences against pro-

perty it was as low as 37 per cent. I should mention

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