Mr. Seamus Sherlock:

I thank the Chairman for the invitation to address this meeting of the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality. We welcome the opportunity to engage with the committee on the topic of community policing and rural crime. There is no doubt that many in rural communities are living in fear of violent assault and crime and that many more are frustrated by the level of property theft in isolated rural locations. There is a sense that the Garda is under-resourced, which is leaving rural communities vulnerable, and, worse, that criminals are operating with impunity. Criminals are rarely caught because the resources to investigate are too scarce. When they are caught, the justice system seems to bend over backwards to be lenient.

Last year, the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, ICSA, in conjunction with Waterford Institute of Technology, WIT, published a series of reports on crime relating to agriculture. The reports were authored by Dr. Kathleen Moore-Walsh and Louise Walsh of WIT. The reports were based on a survey of 861 farmers across Ireland in late 2016 and they make for stark reading. The first report found that: 66% had experienced some form of crime which impacted them or their farms; 41% of respondents had been the victim of a crime more than once; and that while theft, vandalism and criminal damage were the most prevalent types of crime, 5% experienced criminal assault, which was 76 cases.

The second report quantified the average value of theft of property from farms at €1,818 and that incidents of vandalism and criminal damage cost farmers €360 on average. This report also highlighted the fact that a significant level of crime relating to agriculture is not reported to insurance companies, with 94 incidents of theft and 348 incidents of vandalism, criminal damage or trespass going unreported. This reflects that fact that the cost of claiming against one's insurance is perceived as not being worth it due to fears of higher insurance premiums in the future.

The third report showed that farmers were also reluctant to report crime to the Garda. Some 45% of respondents did not report instances of crime to the Garda. The reasons can be summed as a sense of hopelessness that anything will be done. The level of recovery of stolen assets was 8% among the respondents.

The ICSA-WIT reports show that rural crime is very much underestimated in official figures from An Garda Síochána. They also very much indicate that criminal activity is widespread and that the impact is felt by many in rural Ireland. Farmers are especially vulnerable.

While we are all aware of the terrifying ordeals of individuals attacked in their own homes or on their properties, there is a lot less awareness that farmers are regularly intimidated by trespassers on their land. The ICSA regularly hears from members about uninvited individuals coming onto their land with lurchers or with the apparent intention of shooting birds or lamping foxes. Many feel that this is just a front to size up a farm and its assets.

I do not want to over-dramatise matters but most country people will tell you they are living in fear of someone driving onto their property or of being attacked in their homes in the middle of the night. There is no doubt that people feel that the Garda has inadequate resources. The problem is not so much the closure of Garda stations but the time it takes to get a squad car out when something goes wrong. The feeling among many is that it is better to call a neighbour than to call the Garda when one feels threatened.

Many farmers are spending money trying to make their premises more secure but solutions are not cheap for individual farm families. A number of communities have come together to install CCTV cameras. There is a scheme to grant aid this kind of initiative but so far uptake has been low. That communities have to do a great deal of fundraising to provide matching funds and the an ongoing cost is a real problem.

The ICSA encourages farmers to mark their vehicles and farm machinery. There are ways of doing this so that a stolen vehicle can be identified. The markings are not obvious to thieves when they are stealing vehicles or machinery. However, there is no substitute for having gardaí on the ground. We need local communities to be on first-name terms with gardaí. The ICSA is concerned that restrictions on Garda overtime are impacting on the force's ability to fight crime and be on the case rapidly. We want a greater Garda presence in rural areas and we want officers to have the ability to respond to calls for help as fast as possible.

The ICSA is also concerned that criminals who continuously reoffend get treated too lightly by the criminal justice system. All too often, we see crime committed by individuals who should be in jail. We want to see stiffer sentencing for repeat offenders. The purpose of the criminal justice system should also be about protecting innocent people in their homes.

The one message I want to get across loud and clear, it is that rural crime continues to be a major issue. The ICSA reports show that we should not assume that Garda figures on crime tell the whole story. People in rural Ireland are living in fear and it is time to prioritise the fight against crime, to deliver enough resources to the Garda and to crack down on reoffending.