Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This case has been raised by many Deputies. The Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015 was targeted at burglars with previous convictions and who are charged with multiple residential break-ins. That Act requires that the courts provide for consecutive jail sentences when a burglar is being sentenced for multiple offences. It also allows courts to refuse bail to offenders who have a previous conviction for domestic burglary.

This case involves an aggravated situation where the burglars beat up an elderly man. The criminal justice forensic evidence and DNA database system was commenced a year ago and introduced the DNA database, which provides the Garda with investigative links between people and unsolved crimes, including burglary. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, this morning turned the sod on a new forensic laboratory in County Kildare, which will cost over €30 million.

Deputy Michael Healy-Rae should not underestimate the impact of Operation Thor, which began in November 2015 at a time of straitened public finances. It led to a sharp decline in the national rate of burglary, which has been reflected in successive statistics published by the CSO. The full year figures for 2016 are the most recent available. They indicate a 30 % reduction in burglary over that 12-month period.

That does not excuse what happened to the Campion couple in Roscrea. I hope that the Garda is able to apprehend the perpetrators and that they are brought before a court to be dealt with by a judge. The Deputy’s point is valid. Whether they be urban, semi-rural or what one might call really rural, communities need to be on the alert. Facilities such as the text alert scheme and so on are available that allow suspicious vehicles or people acting suspiciously to be reported in the hope that issues such as this one will not arise again or at least will be reduced. Should an incident unfortunately occur, those facilities will mean that the perpetrators can be apprehended.

I hope that Jimmy Campion makes a full recovery. I hope that the condition of his wife, Maura, improves and that they will be allowed to live their lives as a long-married couple in the peace and tranquillity of their home, which they have known for a very long time.

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