Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise an issue of great importance to the public, both rural and urban. I sympathise with all the victims of crime in recent times. We are dealing with gangland crime in the cities and it featured in my town quite recently. In recent weeks, especially, there have been attacks on elderly people and families in rural and urban areas. I do not blame the Tánaiste for the criminals but the crimes are a direct result of the Government's policies. I am delighted the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, is here because his policies, as pursued by the Government over almost two years, are aiding and abetting criminals. The policies have denuded rural areas of Garda stations. I now see that stations in urban areas, such as Stepaside and Whitehall, are being closed. The gardaí do not have squad cars. Only yesterday evening it was reported to me that, on the preceding night, a member of the community alerted gardaí when he saw some strange activity. When the gardaí arrived, they did not have flashlights and were using their telephones. That is a sad state of affairs. On another occasion, a garda from a station outside Tipperary rang me to state there was no light in the bathroom when he wanted to use it and he did not have a light bulb to put in it.

These are the facts and the Ministers and the Tánaiste know that.

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