Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to ask a couple of questions on community policing. The issue of the personnel resource available to the Commissioner directly affects community policing. Some time ago Garda strength was approximately 14,500, but as of June 2012 the latest official figure was 13,500. Allied to that is the embargo on recruitment into and training in the force. What is the optimum number for the force and can the Commissioner give the committee an insight on the impact of the embargo on recruitment? To provide some context, there was much public disquiet at a recent recruitment campaign for the Defence Forces. People asked how there can be a recruitment campaign for the Defence Forces and not for the Garda Síochána? That is a legitimate question. Perhaps the Commissioner can give an overview on that issue.

On the issue of community policing, the Commissioner mentioned burglaries, which have increased by more than 10% in the past 12 months. The statistic for thefts against the person was quite staggering, being in the order of 43%. I hate to describe this as low level crime but it involves both the theft of handbags and mobile telephones and muggings. An increase of 43% is extraordinary. That feeds into the impact on the community and links back to the number of personnel on the street.

The thefts from shops prevention and reduction strategy was launched in 2011. It is a good strategy. It focuses on retailers who are the victims of thefts from shops and which thefts have a huge impact on business. Perhaps the Commissioner would comment on the roll-out of the strategy and give his assessment of it as I am sure it is monitored on an ongoing basis.