Mr. Seamus Sherlock:

We have met the Minister for Justice and Equality on a number of occasions and we even gave him a copy of our Waterford report. In fairness to the Minister, he knows exactly where we are coming from. We have been beating this drum for a good while and I know other farm organisations have done the same. The Minister is well aware of what is happening in rural Ireland.

Many ordinary rural gardaí have told me they are at a low ebb because they spend too much of the day sitting on a chair behind a desk. I am repeating myself but it is not what they signed up for. Those men and women joined the force to serve and protect, and it is what they want to do. We should do everything in our power to free them and give them better resources to work with the community, which must play a big part in this. We cannot expect a garda to sit outside everyone's house at night to protect us, and the community comes first. I have always made it quite simple. The people of rural Ireland should stand with their brothers and their families, shoulder to shoulder, and we will work with the Garda to try to bring down crime rates. We will never get rid of it but we can try to bring down the rates.