Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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I will go back to page 2 to develop the point. The Minister stated in his submission that as of 31 October, some 6,972 persons have been arrested and 3,971 persons have been charged with burglary offences under Operation Fiacla. Why is this figure so high? The Minister said we should welcome this. I am shocked so many people have been arrested and charged. That is a very high figure and should be a cause of concern, not welcomed.

In regard to Operation Stilts, the Minister spoke about the ongoing Garda operation in the city centre to reduce antisocial behaviour and drug related crime, but he gave us no figures on that. Therefore, we do not know what is going on in this regard. However, I know from talking to people from Dublin and the city centre and from talking to members of the Minister's party that they are concerned about what is going on there. I would like to see more of the facts on this issue.

In regard to the crime statistics, the Minister said there was an overall reduction of 8% in the instances of crime in the 12 months to mid-2013. Many of us, who live in the real world, have come across an undercurrent that is not being addressed by senior management in the Garda in this regard, namely, the amount of unreported crime in some communities. I hinted at this earlier before the Chair reminded me to stick to the issue. There is widespread intimidation in some communities and much crime is not being reported. The Garda is not aware of this, but it is an issue that is raised regularly with back bench Deputies. How does the Minister intend to address this issue?

On page 5 of his submission, the Minister referred to the cost of providing the Go Safe road safety camera service and said the key objective was to reduce deaths. On the related issue of penalty points, many people have come to me with their concerns about this system and about whether it is being implemented fairly or whether some people are being let off penalty points while others are prosecuted.

The Minister mentioned clearing the backlog in regard to citizenship applications. What is the current figure for citizenship applications?