Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment. I am disappointed a Minister from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is not here. I raised this matter approximately one year ago and there was some response. There was an increase in the number of gardaí in Tralee but there is much more to do.

Recently, there have been a number of very vicious assaults on people in Tralee town. Last week alone, there were two assaults which were extremely brutal. During the early hours of Saturday morning, a man was attacked by three others in the Strand Street area. In a separate incident, a man was assaulted in the Mary Street-Abbey carpark area at approximately 12.30 a.m. on Sunday. Both victims were hospitalised. The mother of one of the victims spoke this week of her son's injuries, claiming that he had obtained a fractured cheek bone, bruising to an eye and cuts to the head which required stitches in what was a completely unprovoked attack. The psychological wounds, which cannot be seen so easily, are also very damaging.

A fortnight ago, the victim of another unprovoked attack in Tralee was close to losing an eye. The assault on two men which happened in the early hours of Sunday morning on Russell Street was described by an eyewitness as being particularly vicious. The wife of one of the victims of this assault said she and her husband were naturally very angry about the assault and she described what happened as unbelievable. Incidentally, these people were visitors to the town and they said they would be very slow to return to it again.

Residents along the old Tralee-Fenit railway line have been living in terror following a series of assaults in the area this year. Early this year, a cyclist in his 20s was assaulted on Killeen Road by two men brandishing weapons and wearing balaclavas. The man's assailants jumped from a car and began to beat him around the head and body with what was believed to be a baseball bat. The man who sustained head injuries was taken to Kerry General Hospital.

I have also received a considerable amount of anecdotal evidence that many more assaults take place in Tralee which are not reported to the Garda. From speaking to many young people who socialise in Tralee at weekends, the town has become a rather dangerous place in which to be during the early hours of Saturday, Sunday and Monday mornings. Many of the people who cause trouble in the town are not locals.

Taxi drivers in the town have told me of many unprovoked attacks on their colleagues while working at night. Last year, representatives of the taxi association in Tralee were in the House when I raised this matter. They came up specifically to meet the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. They met the junior Minister on that occasion to point out what was happening in Tralee.

The gardaí are doing their best and I appeal to the Minister to ensure as many foot patrols as possible in the town from now until Christmas, in particular. This should be possible. The town's CCTV cameras are not functioning properly and, as a result, parts of the town which should be monitored are not being monitored. Surely it should be possible to have CCTV surveillance repaired to ensure it acts as a major deterrent to crime. I am sure we all agree it is pointless having cameras which do not work.

The local policing forum, which was recently established in Tralee, has a role to play in tackling this issue. However, the forum's membership should be more broadly based and it should meet more often. From a preventative perspective, parents, teachers and others who are in contact with young people must continue to educate them about the immorality and danger of the type of behaviour to which I have referred. I hope the Minister of State, in his reply, will give some guarantee that there will be additional Garda foot patrols in the town. I hope this matter is taken seriously and that all possible support will be given to the local gardaí to ensure they can stop the increase in anti-social behaviour in Tralee and, if possible, make it a matter of history.

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