Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for remaining in the House so late on a Thursday evening. He has drawn the short straw.

Crime is an issue that needs constant and careful consideration and investment. It is a ubiquitous issue that invariably becomes heated in advance of a general election but there is a real security threat that can be dealt with simply by better use of technology. Much of the recent hyperbole surrounding rural crime fails spectacularly to offer real solutions.

During a recent debate in the House I referenced the fact that one can install software on a mobile phone so that should it be lost or stolen it can be tracked down, even if it is switched off. This can be done very easily and cheaply. There is one common denominator linking almost every crime, including rural crime.

Criminals do not use their own cars when travelling to commit crimes. They steal vehicles to do so, sometimes weeks or months in advance of committing the crime. I propose that tracking devices or software be installed or retrofitted on a phased basis on all cars and vehicles. Where a vehicle with tracking software was stolen, the owner could report the theft to the Garda, providing either a password or key that would allow the Garda to track the vehicle electronically. Owners would not track their vehicles as to do so would expose them to great risk. The criminals involved are at their most vulnerable in the period between the theft of the car from an innocent owner's driveway and the point at which it enters a secure lock-up or breaker's yard. Criminals know that stolen cars can blend in with other traffic on the streets, highways and motorways. However, if a tracking device is activated, a stolen car will, from a technological perspective, light up like a Christmas tree. Garda resources, which are in great demand, could then be targeted at tracking stolen cars, rather than used in a random manner.

The installation and activation of tracking software requires the support and co-operation of the Departments of Justice and Equality and Transport, Tourism and Sport. I call on the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, to raise this matter with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, in the first instance, and request that it liaise with the Department of Justice and Equality. Tracking technology could be rolled out alongside the new technology to be installed in Garda stations under the capital plan.

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry, SIMI, would also have to co-operate with the roll-out of tracking software. While SIMI will deny this is the case, its members benefit from car theft because stolen vehicles must be replaced or, in the case of damage, repaired. The co-operation of the Insurance Federation of Ireland would also be key.

I ask the Department to introduce incentives and legislation to commence the immediate roll-out of tracking devices and software to enable one link in the chain of crime, the stolen car, to be removed. If one takes stolen cars from criminals, one removes a vital cog from their apparatus.

See this speech in context