FIANNA Fail's John O'Donoghue has been a busy opposition spokesman on justice. He said yesterday that he had produced 12 Bills over the last two years.
This prolific Bill-writing may explain why so little of the crime document published by the party yesterday appears new. Many of the "initiatives" mirror Government policy or describe actions which have already been taken.
The greatest flaw is that the programme is not costed. If implemented, the cost would amount to hundreds of millions of pounds. The Government's 800-space prison building programme is costing £135 million, suggesting that the 2,000 extra prison spaces promised by Fianna Fail would cost about £340 million. However, the party has proposed private sector funding for building.
With regard to drugs, the party proposes a Cabinet committee chaired by the Taoiseach. The Government has already accepted this idea following a report on drugs by Minister of State Mr Pat Rabbitte.
Making the Garda Commissioner the accounting officer for the force, as Fianna Fail proposes, has already been recommended by management consultants who are reporting to the Government.
The separation of courts and prisons operations from the Department of Justice, as proposed by Mr O'Donoghue, is also Government policy and is under way.
Fianna Fail promises a force of 12,000 gardai. At present there are 10,800, with a further 860 being trained.
Perhaps all this proves is that there are few new ideas about when it comes to tackling crime.
Mr O'Donoghue did however have a couple of initiatives of his own. One was a US-style witness protection scheme, normally used for criminals who give evidence against their associates. (The Garda Commissioner has already shown little faith in such programmes.) Other ideas included a plea-bargaining system, a curfew for people on bail, attachment of earnings as a way of collecting fines, and handing over control of traffic so that gardai can concentrate on crime.