O'Brien Appointed Spokesperson for Justice, Equality and Defence

O’Brien Appointed Spokesperson for Justice, Equality, and Defence


Jonathan O’Brien TD was yesterday appointed Sinn Féin’s spokesperson for justice, equality and defence.

Speaking afterwards, Deputy O’Brien welcomed his appointment and responded to the justice section of the programme for government.

“This document contains several worthy proposals. I particularly welcome the pledges on victim’s rights, on penal reform, and on new anti-corruption legislation.

However the devil is in the detail – or the lack of it.

There is no timeline for implementing any of these proposals.

There are no details of how the proposals will be funded.

Most of the proposals are vague with little sense of how they will work out in practice.

Of particular concern is the impact of cuts on frontline policing and the fight against drugs. The government have said they intend to implement €3 billion in cutbacks next year. There will be more cutbacks the year after. Can the Minister for Justice promise me that the budget for combating drugs and organised crime will be ring-fenced from these reductions? Can he promise me Garda numbers will be maintained?

The public sector recruitment embargo must lifted in order to maintain Garda numbers. The Garda reserve should be scrapped and the money used to employ full-time Gardai.

Urgent action is required to tackle the scourge of drugs which is devastating communities across the country. In my own constituency of Cork North Central I have seen a massive increase in heroin use over the past few years, at the same time as the services to deal with it have been starved of funding. Unfortunately the government’s proposals are long on aspiration but short on specifics.

There is a pledge to expand local rehabilitation services, but the commitment is “subject to available resources”. There is talk of reducing the flow of drugs to prisons and implementing programmes to prevent addiction in schools, but no detail of how this is to be achieved. There is no mention of reversing the two years of funding reductions which have left Drugs Taskforces scrimping to maintain core services. There is no mention of the devastating impact of unemployment and poverty on the communities worst affected by the drugs crisis and no plan to counter it. Indeed, this government plans to deepen the cuts to public services and social welfare benefits introduced by its predecessor.

Sentencing policy is badly in need of reform. A system that can let a drug trafficker off with a suspended sentence while imprisoning someone who is unable to pay their TV licence is unjust and must be changed. I look forward with interest to seeing the government’s proposals in this area and will judge them on their merits.

For too long we have had two laws in this country, one law for the wealthy and powerful and another law for the rest of us. White collar criminal and corrupt politicians need to be brought to justice. There needs to be an Oireachtas enquiry into the causes of our economic collapse, and the circumstances in which the decision to extend a blanket guarantee to the banks came about. Words are not enough. Justice will not have been served until we see senior bankers being put into the back of Garda vans with handcuffs on their wrists.

For further information or comment contact Deputy Jonathan O’Brien 085-2133907