Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know, we are six seconds into the slot but it is deeply disrespectful for the Minister for Justice and Equality not to come in when there is a serious issue of crime and criminality in my constituency which is not being addressed with the proper resources for An Garda Síochána.

I have tabled this particular Topical Issue with regard to Stamullen and Gormanston where there has been a wave of crime and anti-social behaviour in the last number of weeks, if not years, as well as an increase in burglaries. This has not been addressed by increasing the Garda presence in the area. Instead, we have seen an absolute savaging of Garda resources, with gardaí on the beat simply unable to deal with the crime with which they are expected to deal. Somebody has to listen. The Ashbourne Garda district may be a relatively new district with much of its population having moved there over the last ten to 20 years but it deserves the same policing response and resources as every other part of the country. It simply does not have that and as a result, the levels of burglary and anti-social behaviour are running amok. It is fair to say that the public does not have confidence in Garda response times or in the Garda presence in the area and as a resident of the Ashbourne Garda district, I share a lot of their concerns. I have no difficulty in expressing confidence in the ability of gardaí to investigate crimes and indeed, they seem to have had some success in recent days. However, I have a severe lack of confidence, as do my constituents, in terms of the Garda presence on the ground throughout the district, but specifically in Stamullen and Gormanston.

In 2016, 321 burglaries were recorded in the Ashbourne Garda district while in the entire county of Westmeath only 241 were recorded. The number of gardaí in the Ashbourne Garda district is around 100. The number in the entire county of Meath is 321 but there are 241 gardaí in Westmeath. There is a higher crime rate, in terms of burglaries, in the Asbourne Garda district compared to the whole of County Westmeath but the district has around one third of the gardaí deployed in that county. That is outrageous, unsustainable and it cannot go on. It is completely wrong. I hope that the Minister for Justice and Equality, An Garda Síochána and the forum on the future of policing are all listening because this is wrong. It is wrong that there is not equality for my constituents who are citizens of this republic. They do not have the same Garda service that many other counties can take for granted. It is simply wrong, unsustainable and is not conducive to the public good or the betterment of civic society. This must change. The people have been complaining about it for long enough. The people of Stamullen, Gormanston, Duleek, east Meath, the fringes of Drogheda, Dunboyne, Dunshaughlin, Ratoath, Ashbourne and everywhere in between are sick of what is going on. Gardaí simply cannot do the job they are being asked to do because there are not enough of them.

We have another specific problem in that Garda stations in Drogheda, Balbriggan, Maynooth, Kilcock and Kingscourt which are adjacent to this particular Garda district cannot serve it. That is something that must change because we are completely isolated and do not have enough resources.

It cannot go on and gardaí should not allow this situation to continue. The public simply will not put up with it. I am not encouraging any form of protests in this regard but constituents have suggested that people would protest at Garda stations - that is how bad it has become. These are honourable, decent citizens who rightly feel they deserve a proper policing service and a proper number of gardaí.

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