Government adopts others’ policies

IN recent months, the electorate may have been labouring under the misapprehension that the job of the Government is to govern. However, in at least one area — criminal justice — virtually all new Government policies have been the product of proposals from the opposition.

Just a week ago, Justice Minister Michael McDowell was forced to adopt a Fine Gael bill he had previously shelved, to close a loophole in relation to the grooming and sexual exploitation of children which was pointed out to him by the Labour Party. Mr McDowell has again had to resort to adopting opposition policies in an attempt to cover up his own lamentable record on crime.

The new Criminal Justice Bill, which will be published by Mr McDowell this week, will contain a provision allowing for the electronic tagging of suspects released on bail. An identical proposal was made in May last year by Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who said it was a vital step towards ending the tide of violent crime being committed by suspects released on bail.