Yesterday, we witnessed the extraordinary scenes of a Minister making disgraceful political and personal remarks against a Member of the House. That the allegations were made against one of the most committed, honest and diligent parliamentarians made the offence all the worse. I heard the apology of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform this morning. Deputy Bruton has, as one would expect from him, accepted that apology with great dignity. It might be of interest to the Taoiseach that one of the books which Joseph Goebbels attempted to have published was called Michael. I hope this experience will be a watershed for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and that, in the future, instead of responding to serious matters of crime and growing crime with bluff and bluster, he will deal with the facts and recognise the serious problems which the Garda Síochána face in keeping our streets safe.

Will the Taoiseach confirm that the figures used by Deputy Bruton on Garda numbers in the Dublin metropolitan area being at 3,740 on 31 December 2004 as against 3,742 on 31 December 2005 were correct and based on replies given to him by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform? It is a "yes" or "no" answer.

The Taoiseach's Government stated it will be judged on whether people feel safer in their homes and on the streets at night. I will examine some of the key performance indicators in that area. Every year since 1998, detection rates have fallen. Serious crime has increased by almost 20% since 1998. Last year, 54 murders occurred, 16 more than in 1997, a 42% increase. Rape increased by 61% and firearm offences by a whopping 440% in the same period. These crimes terrorise families, communities and individuals. There is a sad story behind every statistic.

Last night the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform had a restless night. If so, he was still protected by two armed gardaí, unlike the woman who keeps €200 under her pillow, in fear that she will be broken into for the third time, as something to offer to keep herself safe. Perhaps the Minister does not have two armed gardaí at his house.

The following are critical questions for the Taoiseach and his Government in respect of being able to keep our policing methods up with 21st century criminal activity. Why, after nine years, are gardaí reduced to making telephone calls on their own mobile telephones for communication purposes? Why, after nine years, have we not had a serious review of rostering to let gardaí on the streets at night and weekends to be seen by the people who want to see this happen? Why is it that after nine years there are still 200 gardaí doing work that civilians could do?

I hope today might be a watershed for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and for the Government. Serious crimes are running at more than 100,000 a year. If this Minister survives for another 12 months, he will have presided over 500,000 serious crimes which is truly a horrific legacy. Yesterday's events showed us that the Minister is hurting badly because his policies are not working. It is time for action in dealing with the serious facts exposed by Deputy Bruton yesterday.

We have tried successfully to recruit more gardaí so that by Christmas there will be more than 14,000 in the force. That will include the students who are still in training.

There will be fewer than 13,000.

What about the pensioners?

They will be trained and be good gardaí. There will be 1,743 more gardaí if one excludes the trainees.

The Taoiseach should stick to the facts.

How many are retiring?

The Minister for Finance said it would be 2008 before they were all recruited.

We are in the midst of the biggest recruitment drive for new officers since the foundation of the State. Starting in January 2005, more than 1,100 new officers per year have been and are being recruited for three years.

The number of officers assigned to stations in the Dublin metropolitan area has risen by more than 600 since 1997, from 3,200 to 3,794. In addition to those gardaí assigned to stations in Dublin there are 147 officers in the Dublin traffic unit, 99 officers in the Dublin command and control unit, bringing the strength of the force in the Dublin region to 4,400 personnel today. This does not include any of the several hundred officers included in the special units, such as the drugs squad and others. They are not included because they work mainly but not exclusively in Dublin.

The reason for the seemingly low number of gardaí in Dublin Garda stations in December 2005 was the transfer of 50 personnel from the uniformed service in Dublin stations in November to the national bureau of criminal investigation. Under the auspices of Operation Anvil, those 50 officers dealt exclusively with criminals involved in gun crime.

That was purely overtime.

The number of gardaí available to Dublin stations increased every month for the past year. The latest figures show that there were 3,685 gardaí in Dublin stations on 31 March last year compared with 3,794 today, making an extra 109.

Where are the extra 2,000?

The Minister made the point that the overall increase in crime categories was disappointing because there was an increase in the fourth quarter of last year compared with the first quarter of 2004.

That is zero tolerance.

That figure was down on the 2003 figure and the statistics for last year and the provisional headline figures, which I presume are open to final examination, show decreases in some of the most serious categories. Manslaughter was down 50%, aggravated sexual assault was down 43%, robbery of cash goods in transit was down 27%, robbery from the person was down 23% and theft from the person was down 18%.

Soon we will have no need for any police.

What about the figures for rape?

Yes, what about the figures for murder and rape?

Allow the Taoiseach speak without interruption.

I am quoting from the Commissioner's provisional report.

That is called selective reporting.

What about the figures for burglary?

Allow the Taoiseach to speak.

I do not know offhand the figures for burglaries.

What about murders?

The Minister tells me there was an increase. In interpreting the figures one must consider a sizeable increase in population. This morning I read the figures supplied by the Minister's Department. In 1995 with a population of 3.6 million there were 29 crimes per thousand head of population, in 2005 with a population of more than 4.1 million there was an equivalent of 24.6 crimes per thousand.

What was the ratio of gardaí?

The gardaí figures are up.

What is the ratio per head of population?

They are up by two.

By the end of this year there will be 3,500 more gardaí, including the students going through the system.

What is the figure per head of population?

Are student doctors also considered as qualified doctors?

Allow the Taoiseach speak without interruption, please.

There are not more robbers. The crime rate is down per thousand head of population.

The Taoiseach should go to any rural community to find out about crime.

By our own and international standards crime has decreased. Any crime is one too many.

How does the Minister condemn the crime?

People do not report crime any more.

According to the records these are the statistics.

There is non-detection and non-reporting.

That is zero tolerance.

Allow Deputy Kenny speak without interruption.

Mr. Goebbels used to say that truth was the enemy of the state. I asked the Taoiseach a question. He has a pile of statistics in front of him. Deputy Bruton used figures supplied by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, according to which on 31 December 2004, there were 3,740 gardaí in the Dublin metropolitan area, and on 31 December 2005, there were 3,742 in the same area. Is that figure right or not? Is it correct or incorrect — yes or no?

The figures the Taoiseach has read out seem to indicate that he is trying to portray a lessening of aggression on the streets, a diminution in killing by firearms, and a lower incidence of murder on streets around the country. That is not the case. Under the stewardship of this Minister and his predecessor, detection rates have fallen continually. Those detection rates and the rise of serious crime are the key performance indicators by which this Minister and the Government will be judged. This refers not only to headline crime but to rape, assault, murder, possession of guns, larceny and so on.

Why were 65% of assaults undetected in Bray compared with 21% undetected in Santry last year? Why were 72% of robberies undetected in Clondalkin compared with 36.8% in Crumlin? Why must gardaí use their mobile phones to communicate when they are up against the most sophisticated criminal underworld this country has ever seen? Does that not indicate a total failure by the Minister to supply the gardaí with the equipment to do the job the people want them to do? Why are community police not deployed more often at weekends and at night on streets and in estates throughout the country where people want to see them?

There is a crying need for the comfort of knowing that uniformed gardaí are on patrol. Why is this not happening? Why has there been no review of effective rostering to get gardaí out on the streets where people want to see them? Is it not a fact that fundamentally the commitment in terms of garda numbers given by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform cannot be met and, despite all the hype, rhetoric, bluster and intervention, will not be met?

It remains a fact that there is aggression on the streets, the incidence of gun crime, assault, robbery and serious assault is increasing, and the level of detection has fallen under this Government's stewardship. Surely that is an indication of failure at a time when law and order have become fundamental to the lives, fears, safety and concerns of our citizens.

The Deputy has asked me several questions.

The Taoiseach should give a "yes" or "no" answer.

The Taoiseach should answer the first question first.

I will answer all the questions.

That will be a break with tradition.

The Taoiseach should get on with it.

The Taoiseach should say "Yes" or "No".

The Taoiseach need only say "yes" or "no".

The figure of 14,000 will be reached at the end of the year. From 1995 to 1997 there were 53 homicides while last year there were 58. That is certainly an increase, but one must take into account that the population has also increased by 600,000.

I asked a "yes" or "no" question.

Allow the Taoiseach to speak without interruption.

The Garda budget in the Estimates for the capital programme has gone up 35%, a huge increase. The strength of the force has increased significantly and the Garda budget is up 39%. The Commissioner has undertaken to review the force's performance, looking at some new techniques in the areas where detection rates are not so high.

Detection rates for crimes against the person continue to compare very well internationally. Detection rates for property crime, vandalism, criminal damage and burglary, particularly of unoccupied houses and business premises, are low internationally, and we are no exception. The detection rates for property crime are falling and the Minister raised this issue with the Garda Commissioner several months ago. I understand the digital communications system for the Garda will be in place next June.

If one excludes the people transferred, in particular the 50 personnel from the uniformed service who were moved, the answer to Deputy Bruton's question is "yes". As one who is good with mathematics, I think Deputy Bruton will accept that when making a comparison it is wrong to exclude 50 people.

The Minister excluded them. Less crime is still being detected.

On a point of order——

No other member may intervene during Leaders' questions.

The Taoiseach should read the Minister's reply.

Deputy Bruton will have to find another way of raising the issue. We are dealing with Deputy Kenny's question. He is the only one entitled to ask a supplementary question and he is entitled to hear the answer.

There has been talk of lying here and I expect the protection of the Chair.

The Deputy will have to find another way of raising the matter. The Chair is not here to intervene in the functions of the debate.

Perhaps the Taoiseach might read the Minister's reply.

Deputy Kenny has had his opportunity and should allow the Taoiseach to reply.

I am not getting into a dispute about this. I am told that the low figures of personnel in the Dublin Garda stations in December 2005, was due to transfer of 50 personnel from the uniformed service.

The Taoiseach is giving the impression that I am misleading the House.

I am not. I am merely giving the reason. If the Deputy was not told that, I am telling him now.

I have no difficulty mentioning the areas where crime has increased. However, the policy of this Government was first to stop the revolving door system——

Starting with zero tolerance.

——to open up 1900 additional prison places, to bring Garda numbers up to 12,500 and now to 14,000. We had to make a considerable investment in Templemore training college to provide the necessary facilities. The policy was also to resource the Garda properly, both in terms of existing staff, overtime rates and equipment. Allowing for the population increase, the figures do not show that crime rates have increased, except in some areas, which I accept.

What is wrong with that reply is that the Taoiseach, like the Minister, is rhyming off statistics as if we were insulated in this House from what is going on in the streets and the estates. There is little point in telling people one is spending more money. The Government is spending more money, on the health services, for example, but it is not getting better value for it. Crime rates are worsening and more seriously, detection rates are worsening. In Dublin, the subject of this controversy, homicides were up 53% last year, yet detection rates in Dublin have fallen to 32%. If one takes any of the other areas, whether it is the 85% of burglaries, the 65% of thefts, the 62% of robberies or 44% of physical assaults which go undetected, we have a crisis of confidence in the Government's capacity to administer justice and police protection.

Many parts of the Taoiseach's constituency and of mine are tortured by anti-social behaviour yet it is not possible to have the relevant estates policed visibly by gardaí on the beat. The Minister seems to miss that point. He made a gracious apology for his entirely unbecoming antics yesterday and I will say no more of that. However, I heard people say he did not believe what he was saying. My concern is that he does believe what he is saying and does not acknowledge the concern on the streets and in the estates. He seems to confuse the number of interviews he gives with the number of additional gardaí he appoints.

Since the Government made zero progress on zero tolerance for the five years before the current Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform took office, with the Taoiseach having the wisdom to remove the former Minister and put him in charge of hanging pictures and attending race courses, is there now an argument for appointing Deputy McDowell to the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs? He speaks the language well and would be able to go about the country doling out little gifts from the dormant accounts fund. He is manifestly overstressed and there are citizens out there who do not feel safe in their homes or on the streets. The rate of detection is falling to a level which is alarming most people.

I draw the attention of the House to the 2001 Garda report on civilianisation. Under this plan, 556 gardaí were to be freed up to attend to the prevention of crime. Five years later, does the Taoiseach know how many of the 556 have been transferred to operational and crime prevention duties? None. Some 113 people have been appointed to civilian posts but no clerical administrative personnel have replaced gardaí to free them up for crime detection and prevention purposes. That is the snail's pace performance on civilianisation, just one aspect of the responsibility of the current Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Deputy Rabbitte is aware that the surplus clerical staff in the Department of Agriculture and Food is to be appointed to the posts he speaks of. I understand some 300 people are to be involved.

I thought they were going to look after the driving tests.

I do not want to repeat all the figures again, but we will have an additional 3,500 gardaí on the streets. Our population has increased. The Minister took action to increase Garda numbers to what they are today. That took an enormous effort. Anyone familiar with the training programme and the top class new facilities at Templemore will be aware of the effort to do that. We will reach the figure of 14,000. We got rid of the revolving door because there are 1,900 extra places, due to the fact that we have resourced the Prison Service and the Garda in terms of capital and resources, including overtime which, perhaps, is not always the best means but it is necessary to have the individual programmes. We have managed to cut crime in many places. I do not wish to get into the argument with Deputy Rabbitte on the number of homicides for Dublin. I want to give the number of homicides for the country which in 1993 was 53 and in 2005 was 58 with a population of a difference of 600,000. That is 53 and 58 too many. I am not happy with those numbers.

While the figures from the provisional headline crime statistics for last year show an increase of 2.7% compared to 2004, the level of headline crime in 2005 is lower than for 2003 by 1.6%. Even with an increase in population there is very little difference. The figures show that manslaughter is down 50% and aggravated sexual assault is down 43%. Those are substantial reductions. It is fair to examine the numbers per 1,000 of population. Going back to 1995, the figures show a reduction — I wish it was far more — from 29 crimes per 1,000, to 24.6 crimes per 1,000.

There are problems of lawlessness in some areas. The Public Order Act was successfully implemented on St. Patrick's Day. This time last year I was here dealing with the difficulties that arose on St. Patrick's Day. I congratulate the Garda and the Minister on the fact that there were very few difficulties on St. Patrick's Day this year. One of the reasons for that——

The Minister must have been far away.

The Taoiseach without interruption, please.

The Minister was in College Green on St. Patrick's Day.

I do not want to get into the other issues either. The Minister has dealt with personal issues——

No, he has not.

——and it has been accepted by Deputy Kenny.

He is not reading the newspapers.

I meant to answer Deputy Kenny's question. I declare my position by saying I have personal security. In fairness to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform he has not used personal security. I do not want to make an issue of that because that may not be wise.

On the Minister's performance yesterday he does not need any personal security. If the Taoiseach wants to move outside Dublin I will instance the case of the answers given to my colleagues, Deputies Stagg and Wall. The increase in serious crime in the past five years in Kildare is 55%. We can swop figures all day. Those figures came from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The fact is the position is worsening and there is no confidence out there. People are concerned when they are the subject of a burglary, a robbery or a personal assault that the crime will go undetected. That is the issue and the Minister speaks about all his legislation. Let us take the Criminal Justice Bill which has been around for two years. When published it had 34 pages. Today the Minister published 340 pages of amendments to the Bill. That is the way this Minister legislates. The Bill bears no similarity to the one originally published. When the House demands adequate time to debate it, he will complain the House is an irritant. The Taoiseach gets up and defends him for all his life is worth, despite the memory of the posters. We have some great photographs from yesterday for posters in the next election. The Taoiseach will not say a word of condemnation about, for example, the disgraceful behaviour of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform on the floor of the House when he sought to link the Green Party to rioters and looters in South Frederick Street. It was an outrageous charge to make against the Green Party and its members and yet the Taoiseach never issued a word of rebuke.

The fact is that detection rates are falling at an alarming rate. Some 85% of burglaries go undetected and 44% of personal assaults go undetected. That is why people are afraid to walk some streets of this and other cities at night. That is why people are targeted for anti-social behaviour in their homes in estates in parts of my constituency and in parts of the Taoiseach's constituency and there is no Garda to be found. The Garda reforms have foundered because the Minister is not doing his primary job and the Taoiseach appears quite happy to acquiesce in that position. He will hear all about it when he goes out to meet real people.

Hear, hear.

While I have acknowledged some of the difficulties it is entirely wrong for any Member, not least Deputy Rabbitte, to try to portray this or any other city as a lawless zone because that is totally untrue. This city has the third highest number of tourists in Europe. All the research carried out shows it is a safe city. I acknowledge there are pockets in my constituency and in that of the Deputy. For crimes against the person the detection rate is very good but when the crimes are against property the detection rate is not as good. I acknowledge that.

We will have 14,000 gardaí shortly. We have a number of dedicated specialist units. The highest amount of resources in the history of the State are being given to the Garda. It has a substantial capital programme — resources it has never had — to deal with technology and other issues. Its training is acknowledged internationally as being second to very few. To give the impression that in some way this is a lawless country is not correct. I have acknowledged that any crime is a bad thing. Though perhaps the number is not as high as it was many years ago, unfortunately too many people are involved in drug-related crime. There is also a bad and sinister element in society which shoots each other, even friends of people, and shoots others also. I do not deny any of those things. Let us not try to portray that the 12,500 gardaí are not doing their best to deal with crime.

In regard to the Criminal Justice Bill the Minister has already said he will have it recommitted. Effectively this will be a Second Stage debate to deal with the amendments. We all know it will help the Garda in crime detection. I have also said that the Minister has asked the Garda Commissioner, and I understand the Deputy Commissioner, Fachtna Murphy, is undertaking an examination of that issue, to ascertain what more they can do by way of procedures to improve their lot. With a far bigger population the level of crime, in international and national comparison, is down. The level is still too high because we do not want to see a society with any crime, particularly when there is close to full employment. Some 20 years ago unemployment and social disadvantage was given as the reason for high rates of crime. That argument is gone.