Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not have many questions but I want to acknowledge that the contributions of the witnesses are an important part of our deliberations which have been going on for a couple of weeks. I was struck by the contrast between the account we were given at the start of today's meeting and the account we received from An Garda Síochána last week, which painted a very different picture. An Garda Síochána was at pains to say that from its perspective crime rates had fallen, that it was far safer to live in a rural community than in a city, based on crime figures, and that while burglaries are probably the most common rural crime, people are better off living in the countryside. Could the witnesses comment on that viewpoint?