A "ZERO tolerance" policing policy, more prison spaces and tougher sentencing are the centrepieces of the Progressive Democrats' crime policies.
Publishing the party's latest crime policy document yesterday, the party leader, Ms Mary Harney, said crime was the most important issue for the public but the Government had been "dogged by defeatism" in its attempts to tackle the problem, and was not fit to govern.
Rigorous enforcement of the law was needed to prevent criminals from "wrecking our society". The Garda would be instructed to implement "zero tolerance" - by which no offence would be over looked - as soon as the party came into government, she said.
The suggestion that zero tolerance could amount to pushing beggars from the streets was described by Mr Michael McDowell as "propaganda". When reminded that this was the view of the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, he said he was referring to the Democratic Left leader, Mr De Rossa.
Ms Harney said that while Fine Gael had traditionally been regarded as the "law and order" party, in coalition it had been hampered by "the soft `criminals are victims' approach of the Labour Party and Democratic Left".
The Government had suffered from a "moral confusion" in its approach to crime, said Ms Liz O'Donnell, the party's justice spokeswoman.
While the Progressive Democrats believed long term strategies were needed to counter the causes of crime, such as targeting resources at areas of high unemployment, "law and order should not be postponed" while these programmes were being put in place, she said.
The 1,500 extra prison spaces promised, bringing the prison population to about 3,500, could be built by the private sector, according to the party, and leased back to the State.
Other policies include a modification of the "right to silence" and a 10 year minimum sentence for "significant" drug traffickers. Ms O'Donnell said judges were becoming demoralised by the shortage of prison spaces and were taking it into account when sentencing.
The PDs want financial compensation for victims of crime.
The party would also introduce a new criminal code, to make laws more easily understood, and unify the prosecution service, which includes the offices of the Chief State Solicitor and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). The DPP would become answerable to the Dail for the way the office is run.
The party also called for "a law which publishes the names and addresses of drug offenders in the same way as tax offenders".