Mr. Seamus Sherlock:

Deputy Wallace mentioned community. We get communities to come together. Every rural dweller must be conscious of his or her security. Unfortunately, we are now at a stage where gates have to be locked all the time, even if one is only going to the local shop - if there is a local shop anymore. People are literally locking themselves in, especially farmers. I often have to ring farmers to ask them to come out and open the gate for me. They are locked in. Every farmer now has to have a proper shed with a proper steel door to store all their valuables.

I have spoken to many farmers who on getting home realise that somebody was in the yard because something has been moved. In some cases nothing has been stolen but it has a negative effect on people when they think somebody was walking around their yard. People remember where they left a pitchfork, for example. They tell me that someone has been in the yard. If a man living alone had a cow calving, he might think twice about getting up at 3 a.m. Many farmers say they would not and would take a chance on the cow being all right because they would not like to go out in case someone was outside.

Ms Starnes will speak in due course about CCTV, but for us as an organisation it is all about community and working with the local community police. We have no choice at this time. Many people feel they are on their own and they have to do the best they can. It is a question of survival for many older people. Many people say to me that they hope they can see their days out without being attacked. That is very sad and it affects me very much when I drive home from meetings having heard vulnerable people say, for example, that they are 72 and they hope they see their lives out without being beaten up or attacked. That is so sad for men and women who have worked so hard. Some people lived abroad and came back to this country. Many of them have family but the family have moved away. The local post offices are gone, as is the Garda station. In some rural areas it could be 15 or 20 miles to the nearest petrol station. I do not say we can bring all that back at once but that is where we are leaving vulnerable people who find themselves left behind. Infrastructure and everything else is moving away, but people are still living in rural areas. It comes down to communities. Ms Starnes will speak about CCTV.