Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Jim O'Callaghan. We need boots on the ground. The extra allocation of gardaí is welcome. In Mayo, we need to take account of the presence of the international airport and to allow extra gardaí to be stationed there. We need to upgrade Swinford Garda station to a 24-hour facility. It is in the middle of the county in east Mayo where there is no 24-hour station.

In the context of CCTV, I agree that we need community schemes but we also need to invest in mobile CCTV vans that can move between areas and operate in partnership with local authorities in the context of litter prevention. We must get serious about repeat offenders. Why is it that when certain people are released from prison, there is a spike in the number of burglaries? There is a constant pattern in this regard that we must address. We need a sense of ownership of this issue, particularly at this time of year. As a rural Deputy, the Minister has a better understanding of this issue than most of his predecessors.

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