Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. As a public representative, it is an issue which exercises my constituents regularly, especially if there is a spate of criminal activity in our area. In Offaly-north Tipperary, there has been yet another spate of burglaries of retail premises, farmyards and private dwellings. From what I have been told by local Garda management, they have been the target of mobile gangs. It is a hard fact of life that we have to accept that there are people in our society who engage in criminal behaviour. It is our role as public representatives, through good policy-making, to support the valiant efforts of An Garda Síochána. Members of the Garda see themselves as a police service rather than a police force.

As a member of the Offaly joint policing committee, I found this engagement with An Garda Síochána at local level with communities and public representatives to be fruitful. One matter which always arose at these committee meetings was the requirement to have additional boots on the ground and additional vehicles. All Members welcomed the reopening of Templemore training college in 2014, with 700 recruits having gone through there since then, as well as the fact another 600 recruits are planned for this year, along with investment in additional vehicles. Through the committee, I know there was much emphasis on CCTV systems. I hope we will continue to maintain and extend the Garda CCTV system, while the reintroduction of the community CCTV will be an outcome of the review being conducted.

An Garda Síochána is forging partnerships, which are very welcome, through Muintir na Tíre and the IFA to roll out community alert and text alert schemes. Crimestoppers is also working with the IFA to combat the theft of farm machinery.

I hope that, in the lifetime of this Dáil and in the new legislative programme, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 will be placed on the A list and will be dealt with as soon as possible. It was a shame it was not dealt with by the previous Government. I hope it will be a priority in the next term, especially when figures from the Central Statistics Office show recorded sexual offences rose by 15% in 2015. The second SAVI report on sexual abuse and violence in Ireland was published in January this year, some 14 years after the first such report. It was welcome that a national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence was also published. Longitudinal research is required - I did not see it in the strategy. It would help us understand why the demands on the rape crisis centres and the sexual assault treatment units have grown so much in the past ten years.

Why is this happening? Is it due to the increasing use of pornography or the Internet? What is going on? This is why we need that type of information.

I also want to discuss the fantastic work the rape crisis centres are carrying out across the country, particularly in Tullamore and the work of Offaly Domestic Violence Support Services. They are doing fantastic work for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. We must ensure funding is put in place for them. It pains me to see volunteers fundraising when they should be providing supports to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. We need to increase funding there if we can.

We need to look at sentencing, which reflects what we believe is the outcome of a crime. A recent offence only attracted a suspended sentence of seven years because the perpetrator confessed to the crime initially. I firmly believe a suspended sentence of seven years for raping one's partner is inadequate. It sends out a really negative message about our view of the seriousness of this crime. It is appalling that we would allow that type of sentencing. If we are take sexual assault and rape seriously, we must ensure that the sentence is commensurate with the crime. I acknowledged the helplines. It is important that people are aware that Women's Aid has a 24-hour helpline for victims of domestic violence and the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has a 24-hour helpline for victims of sexual assault. It is very important that people are aware of them.

I thank the Acting Chairman for the opportunity to speak about this very important topic.

See this speech in context