FIANNA Fail has promised to create more prison spaces, hire more gardai and enact tougher laws if elected to government. In a crime policy document published yesterday, the party said it had a "considered and comprehensive anti-crime strategy" which contrasted with the present Government's "half-hearted, cosmetic and reluctant responses to crime".
Introducing the document yesterday, the party's justice spokesman, Mr John O'Donoghue, said it was "the most important policy document in relation to law and order ever presented in this country
The main features are a commitment to increasing the number of gardai from the existing total of 10,800 to 12,090, and building 2,000 more prison spaces, thus doubling the size of existing prison accommodation.
Mr O'Donoghue admitted the cost of implementing the full programme had not been calculated and this was "obviously a matter for another day". However he said there was "a recognition that it would require resources".
Private sector finance could be used for the prison building programme, with the Government then leasing the buildings.
The party leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, said the cost of the main features such as the extra gardai and prison spaces were taken into account in broader economic strategy documents prepared by the party.
The Fianna Fail crime document advocates a "zero tolerance" - similar to that adopted in New York - which requires a crackdown on all types of offences including petty or "street" crime.
It also advocates restricting the use of temporary release from jails, including an end to such release for people who commit crimes while on bail. Fianna Fail would also "introduce curfew orders in respect of people on bail".
Among the anti-drug proposals are a mandatory 10-year jail term for anyone caught in possession of drugs worth £10,000 or more.
Mr O'Donoghue added that people using syringes as a weapon should face sentences of five years for a first offence, seven for a second and life for a third.
A cabinet committee chaired by the Taoiseach would co-ordinate inter-departmental efforts against crime and a Minister of State would be responsible for drugs and other justice matters that involved the Departments of Education and Health.
Under the programme, the Garda Commissioner would become the accounting officer of the force (a role now fulfilled by the secretary of the Department of Justice) and would have the freedom to direct Garda resources.
The gardai would also "be assigned agreed objectives such as targeted annual reductions in crime and increases in detection rates". Rural Garda stations would not be closed.
In the document the party promises to establish a witness protection programme and to provide a statutory basis for plea-bargaining. The party would also establish a prisons authority with overall responsibility for the prisons system, and an independent courts service.
The document also suggests that fines be index-linked and collected by "an attachment of income" to ensure efficient payment.
Asked if he believed there should be mandatory sentences for sex offences, Mr O'Donoghue said that while judges might consider their "hands are tied" by legal precedent in some instances, in other cases it could be argued that they would be wrongly restricted by mandatory sentences. For some offences "it appears to me it is best to leave it to the judges", he said.