Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has firmly stated that this Bill is designed to keep repeat burglars off the street and improve the safety of our communities. I welcome the Bill. It provides for custodial sentences, which will no longer be served concurrently. Instead, convicted repeat burglars will serve multiple sentences. It infuriates me, my constituents and the Minister as well - I know this from multiple conversations with the Minister - that 75% of burglaries are committed by 25% of burgers. It is as if repeat burglars believe they have nothing to lose when robbing decent people who have worked hard to pay for their homes and possessions. I am pleased that the Minister has taken action to address this serious matter. I sincerely hope burglars know that they will suffer real consequences if caught.

I receive seriously distressing e-mails and telephone calls on an all-too-regular basis from residents throughout the constituency of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown about incidents of crime and serious theft. All too often, people view the leafy suburb of Dún Laoghaire as immune from crime and theft and take the view that only rural areas are affected. This is a falsehood. Burglary is a serious issue for rural Ireland, but it is also serious for hard-working families in suburbs such as Monkstown, Killiney, Dalkey, Foxrock, Blackrock and Sandycove, as proven by recent reports from the Central Statistics Office.

I commend the concerted effort of the Minister and welcome this much-needed legislation. It will enforce real action. I am keen to take this opportunity to praise the relentless and dedicated work of the Garda. I have attended many meetings of the Garda policing forum. At these meetings the community is engaged, asked for views and given advice. I have met the Garda superintendents in Blackrock and Dún Laoghaire as well as the chief superintendent and detective superintendent in Dún Laoghaire to discuss issues and the solutions that the Garda is implementing to hinder and stop burglaries in our constituency.

In 2009, as a consequence of Fianna Fáil's catastrophic economic mismanagement, recruitment to An Garda Síochána in Templemore was stopped.

Last September the Government reopened the Garda college for new recruits for the first time since 2009. Fine Gael will not again cease the recruitment of new gardaí. Some 550 new gardaí have come through in the past year and 150 more will begin training in Templemore soon. It is clear that gardaí are needed to catch repeat offenders.

In my constituency, Dún Laoghaire, I work with a number of extremely proactive residents' associations and neighbourhood watch groups. They meet regularly and liaise with gardaí and local community gardaí, keep locals informed and look out for one another. However, there is only so much they can do. I welcome the Minister's real efforts. It is not just talk with her; she listens and responds.

I also welcome the Minister's recent announcement of the electronic tagging of offenders as part of the bail Act, and support the measure. We cannot have elderly people feeling like prisoners in their homes while criminals, who should be in prison, are terrifying elderly people in marauding packs. I look forward to seeing tougher sentencing for repeat home burglaries and I commend the Minister for bringing this vital Bill to the House.

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