Ms Laura Starnes:

It is a very simple, cost-effective way of providing some security. One does not need to bring the item to the Garda Síochána. If one gives the item a belt of the hammer to impress the code and then take a picture of it, one can prove the items belongs to the individual. One should also keep the serial numbers and so on.

I think we need to give more publicity to security, that a company has come up with a big idea that everyone wants to follow and that, whatever kind of branding is around it, the marking of equipment acts as a deterrent. People throughout the country need to be encouraged to take up this system of security. This is not confined to areas where crime levels are high. It is simply a no-brainer that when one buys a new piece of equipment, one marks it. It is about promoting and reinforcing the need to mark and register items. We all need to be singing off the same hymn sheet.

In terms of the system, we need to pick the best system for our circumstances, but the system must be connected across Europe. When jeeps, quads and trailers are taken, they are brought up North and sent to Holland within hours. It is then a matter of getting the goods returned. We all need to be saying the same thing, that one must mark one's property. Ideally, the mark would be registered with a system where the Garda has the technology to be able to assist in the tracing of the stolen article.