Niall Collins (Limerick West, Fianna Fail)

I am grateful for the opportunity to partake in this important debate because all of us are united about progressing legislation to protect our law abiding citizenship. It is unfortunate, given the downturn in the economy, that an upturn in crime is being experienced, particularly in rural Ireland. There is no point shying away from it. Fear is widespread and as a Member representing a rural constituency, I am well aware of the fear experienced by senior citizens, in particular, living in isolated parts of County Limerick. Regrettably, I am contacted on too many occasions by them to report incidents and I try to advise and work with them and with State agencies. Recently in the parish of Fedamore, County Limerick, near my home, a lady woke up in the middle of the night to find her car the subject of an arson attack outside her front door. Her insurance company provided her with a replacement car the following day but that night, the car was also burned out. The company will not provide with her with another replacement car and she is potentially uninsurable. She must do without a car until the perpetrator of the crimes is brought to justice. The gardaí are effective in County Limerick and they deal with various cases efficiently, for which I thank them. Agencies such as Victim Support deserve our assistance and they should be given credit because they provide significant support to the victims of crime.

The Government, the Labour Party and Sinn Féin seem to be at one regarding this issue and we should all get together and advance legislation on foot of recommendations due shortly from the Law Reform Commission. Reservations have been raised about the issue of reasonable force and the definition of the "curtilage of one's property". This is relevant in rural areas, particularly for those who own farms and outbuildings. Experience can be drawn from a number of high profile cases involving people in rural areas in recent years. It is important to get this right because failure to do so could result in people hiding behind legislation.

The Garda has become proactive in interacting with local community groups in my constituency. Last Monday, more than 100 people met gardaí at a meeting in Shanagolden. The gardaí were able to take them through crime statistics for Shanagolden and Foynes, which were generated through investment in the PULSE information system. It is important that community representatives can talk to gardaí about hard facts and figures because hysteria and misinformation about crime levels often take over. It is important that gardaí can produce hard facts and figures about crime levels and detection rates to reassure communities. The Garda is also proactive in the roll-out of the neighbourhood watch and community alert schemes, which is also important. An bord snip nua made a recommendation about the future use of rural Garda stations and the House must engage in a serious debate on this issue. Many stations lie idle but do we want increased investment in human resources in order that more gardaí are on the beat or do we want to tie up resources in land and buildings?

I echo the comments about the free legal aid scheme. A fundamental root and branch review of the scheme is needed because the balance is tipped in favour of the perpetrators of crime who use it on multiple occasions and against the victims of crime.

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