Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That was the message I intended concluding with, but Mr. Sherlock has stolen my lines. It is important. We cannot always be saying that the Garda must do this and that. We all have a part to play, not only in rural areas but throughout the country, if we are to support prevention in the first instance, see a significant reduction in crime at the very least, and be assured that the statistics are an honest reflection of the facts.

On behalf of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality, I thank Foróige, Muintir na Tíre, An Garda Síochána, the PSNI, the Irish Farmers Association and the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association for their respective contributions during the three weeks of hearings on this issue. The information was most valuable in the work that now lies ahead. The committee will prepare a report with recommendations. We hope to have it ready for publication by the end of November 2018. We will probably be in touch to invite the witnesses for a brief launch of that report in the audiovisual room at that time.

On behalf of the joint committee, I thank the representatives of the ICSA, Mr. Seamus Sherlock and Ms Laura Starnes for joining us today to address this very important matter.

We will suspend the sitting to allow the witnesses to withdraw. We will then discuss housekeeping matters in private session.