Ulick Burke (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the proposed Bill and I want to commend Deputies Michael Ring and Charles Flanagan on bringing it before the House today. It is timely legislation for many people throughout the country.

It is quite clear to the public at large that the rights of the home owner are not being adequately protected. We need to ensure that the victim has greater support than he or she has under the law at present. In particular I want to highlight for the Minister the reality of what is happening in the country today and I am worried about what he said in his opening statement. Deputies and the public at large are aware of cases where persons have entered a property without adequate excuse, with criminal intent, with the result of injury or death. Such cases have fuelled the debate as to whether the law strikes the correct balance between the rights of the occupier and those of the trespasser. That is why Deputies Ring and Flanagan have introduced this legislation. It is quite clear to many that the home or property owner does not have the same rights under the law as the trespasser in such cases.

I want to draw the Minister's attention to what is happening, particularly in the west of Ireland, in rural areas, especially in east Galway, the place I know best. Over the past 12 to 18 months in particular, gangs of raiders have concentrated in east Galway, as the evidence shows. It is not a question of their concentrating in just isolated areas, but rather in urban neighbourhoods and rural villages, in regions such as Loughrea, Killimer, Portumna, Tynagh and Woodford. There have been repeated hits on this area and these are occurring with far greater frequency than in the past. This is giving rise to great concern among communities. It is difficult to understand why the Government, which is aware of those facts, has decided to curtail the grant assistance for the provision of safety and security, such as alarms for the elderly. It is unbelievable that the Government can come forward with this idea at the present time.

These raiders and gangs have attacked people, damaged their property and stolen vast amounts of items, obviously for resale. The authorities must realise that these gangs have local information provided by people with links to them. Reportedly, such local informers are on the payroll of the gangs and successfully identify the property of elderly vulnerable people or business people who may hold valuable items including cash in their houses. They are paid according to what the raids yield. Again, it is unbelievable that the present Garda structure in rural Ireland, particularly in east Galway, clearly shows that so-called community policing has left vast areas without cover, as has been repeatedly highlighted this evening for the Minister.

The gardaí know that these gangs use special means of communications, for instance traffic cones that are placed outside a house that is deemed suitable for a hit. Even more commonly, empty plastic bags are used to mark a property. These are very simple mechanisms, but that is what is going on and if the Minister continues to ignore these occurrences, elderly people in Ireland will be in a vulnerable state. I ask the Minister to immediately accept the Bill before the House. If he has to amend it, by all means let him do so, but to reject it out of hand as he has done is a careless response to an absolute need for the protection of people in rural Ireland.

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