Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to hear what the Minister has said about areas on my doorstep in south Kilkenny. I tabled this question on foot of the crime epidemic that has swept rural Ireland in recent years. People in rural communities, particularly the elderly, are fearful because of the significant increase in burglaries and related offences in 2014 and 2015. This fear has now turned to anger. It seems to me, on the basis of the conversations I have had with community representatives in rural towns and villages in my constituency, that we will soon be dealing with a wave of vigilantism among our citizens. Too many people have fallen victim to calculated and brutal attacks by well-organised criminal gangs that are continuing to terrorise townlands and villages across rural Ireland. People are rightly fed up of living in fear. We need to ramp up the deployment of gardaí in rural areas. They are needed now more than ever. As the Minister has said, Garda recruitment resumed almost three years ago in 2014. While I welcome what the Minister has said, I think it is just the start. We need a lot more to stop the crime wave that is coming our way, particularly from cities such as Limerick and Dublin.

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