Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)

I seek the adjournment of the Dáil under Standing Order 31 to raise the following matter of national and local importance: to ask the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the Government's response to a situation that has arisen over the last two weekends in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, where on two separate occasions, members of the Garda Síochána have been attacked and assaulted by members of the public. Those attacks have necessitated the hospitalisation of members of the force. They come against the backdrop of the Enniscorthy district having 41 gardaí on 31 December 1997 and 45 on 31 December 2005, an increase in Garda personnel of just under 10%, despite a significant rise in population, as well as an increase in headline crime of 72% and a fall in detection rates of 57% between 2000 and 2005.

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