Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

“strongly condemns:

— all criminality and reaffirms its strong commitment to upholding law and order; and

— recent violent burglaries and wishes to see the perpetrators of such crimes brought to justice;

recognises:

— that in rural locations there is a particular fear and concern about burglaries; that community policing plays a key part in responding to crime by taking into account and responding to local conditions and needs; and

— the crucial importance of front line policing, noting that the Government has provided for the recruitment of 4,000 civilians by 2021 so that Gardaí can undertake core policing roles;

acknowledges:

— that the closure of the Garda College by a previous Government in 2010 has left a legacy in terms of policing numbers and strongly reaffirms the commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government to ensure a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and deter crime;

— the positive partnerships with community and farming organisations and An Garda Síochána that help enhance safety measures in rural properties;

— the importance of rural dwellers knowing the Eircode for their property which can help An Garda Síochána to locate addresses in an emergency;

— the value of special operations to target organised crime, in particular Operation Thor which has resulted in more than 92,040 targeted checkpoints nationwide and in the region of 6,130 arrests connected to offences including burglary, handling stolen property, possession of firearms, and drug offences;

— that since Operation Thor was launched in November 2015, burglary figures have been going down – by 30 per cent in quarter four of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015;

— the importance of people resisting the temptation to highlight the existence of checkpoints on social media, having regard to the fact that such information may be useful to criminals; and

— the constitutional right to criminal legal aid on foot of a means test where serious legal charges are brought;

notes:

— the policing advice that Garda patrols are particularly effective in crime prevention and detection;

— that since the Garda College was re-opened in September 2014, 1,400 new recruits have attested;

— that 200 further new recruits are scheduled to attest next month, bringing Garda numbers up to 13,500 by the end of the year;

— the successful operations carried out by An Garda Síochána nationwide and the recovery of machinery, farm equipment and other stolen property and the importance of marking property with an Eircode to assist the Garda to retrieve stolen property; and

— that on foot of a commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government, the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, at the request of the Policing Authority, is carrying out a review of the dispersal and use of resources available to An Garda Síochána in the delivery of policing services to local communities;

welcomes and supports:

— the Government’s plans to achieve an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021, comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians;

— the introduction of 720 new Garda vehicles since the start of 2015;

— the 3,700 community alert and neighbourhood watch schemes nationwide;

— the Garda text alert scheme as an effective means for gardaí to communicate crime prevention information to local communities, noting that the scheme is now offered in every Garda division and with 164,000 subscribers and counting and in the order of three million text messages sent annually;

— the enactment of the Criminal Justice Act 2017, strengthening the laws on bail and amending provisions on electronic monitoring to facilitate the targeted use of those provisions in bail cases where they will be most effective;

— the enactment of the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015 which targets repeat burglars who have previous convictions and who are charged with multiple offences of residential burglary;

— the significant financial supports provided to An Garda Síochána by this Government to tackle rural crime;

— the provision of €100 million in Garda overtime in budget 2018 to ensure a strong policing presence throughout the country;

— the provision of some €330 million, including €205 million under the capital investment plan 2016 – 2021, being invested in Garda ICT infrastructure over the period 2016 to 2021, to enable them to carry out their work in the most efficient manner;

— the provision of €46 million in funding for Garda vehicles as part of the capital investment plan 2016 – 2021; and

— the actions taken by the Garda Commissioner to tackle rural crime, noting in particular, the creation of new task forces;

encourages:

— people to participate in the Garda text alert scheme and the community and neighbourhood watch scheme;

— the public to mark all equipment machinery with an Eircode to assist with the return of stolen property;

— communities to avail of community CCTV schemes, noting the €1 million funding announced earlier this year; and

— qualifying persons to register for the seniors alert scheme; and reaffirms the unwavering support of this House for members of An Garda Síochána and the life-threatening work they do every day on behalf of the Irish people and the unique role of gardaí as guardians of the peace.

I thank Deputy O'Callaghan and his colleagues for providing an opportunity to address the topic of rural crime in this House. I acknowledge the importance of public safety. This is a priority for all Deputies, particularly those with largely rural constituencies. I know Deputy O'Callaghan is an active Dublin Deputy but he has family roots in Kerry in particular. I have carefully considered the motion put forward in his name and those of his colleagues and I have decided that an amendment is appropriate because I cannot support the motion. The amendment approved by Government today is lengthy and detailed and captures the breath of priority we rightly apportion to preserving the safety of communities throughout the State.

I am of the firm belief that all Deputies in this House are striving to achieve the same goal, namely, the elimination of all forms of crime that affect communities. I have listened to the various contributions here tonight and I have taken notes on the positive aspects of what has been said. I look forward to hearing further contributions in the course of the debate before its conclusion. I know the debate will be constructive and I hope there will not be any attempts at political point scoring or the rewriting of history. The reality is that a wide range of Government supports are in place; there are high levels of resourcing; and there are a number of schemes that I hope Deputies will encourage members of the public and local communities to participate in.

As a Minister who has represented a largely rural constituency for almost three decades, I assure the House that I am very much aware of the impact incidents of rural crime have on families and the communities in which they work and reside. Over the years, I have known many victims of crime in both urban and rural settings. Such incidents that are often horrific and vicious in nature cannot be tolerated in society - indeed, we do not tolerate them. They are subject to robust laws and robust policing and the Government will continue to dedicate significant resources to support An Garda Síochána in tackling gangs, including mobile criminal gangs, who specifically target rural areas. The House remains committed to a vigorous and comprehensive response to burglary, theft and other property related crime. This response is adaptable to changing circumstances including changes in the modus operandi of the criminal gangs who would target citizens. I am conscious that there have been many references to criminal gangs. I reassure the House that such gangs are relentlessly targeted by An Garda Síochána which continue to monitor the activities of criminal gangs who seek to target all areas of the country. An Garda Síochána is experiencing considerable success in targeting those gangs and implementing strong policing measures to disrupt and dismantle their networks, some to very good effect in recent times.

The House will appreciate that the deployment of Garda resources, including personnel, to specific areas is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner. In taking these decisions, the Commissioner is privy to intelligence that no one in this House can second-guess. The Garda Commissioner assures me that Garda management constantly monitors the distribution of these resources in light of criminal trends and overall policing needs at local level. This applies equally in urban and rural settings.

As the Deputies will be aware, with the implementation of Operation Thor, An Garda Síochána has already mounted a highly effective and determined drive against criminals who seek to prey on vulnerable householders. The scale of Garda activity against burglary and property-related crime under Operation Thor has led to concentrated Garda activity resulting to date in over 92,000 targeted checkpoints and 71,700 crime prevention patrols throughout the country. This concentrated policing activity on the part of the Garda has produced in the region of 6,130 arrests and 6,920 charges covering a range of offences which, in addition to burglary, include handling stolen property, possession of firearms and many drugs offences. Significant resources have been provided to An Garda Síochána, including an overtime allocation of €100 million announced in budget 2018, to support large-scale policing operations, including Operation Thor.

I note that Operation Thor has now entered the winter phase, which will run from 29 October to 1 April next. In addition, Operation Thor has targeted mobile criminal gangs engaged in burglary and related crimes. It is encouraging to note that since the launch of the operation in November 2015 burglary figures have shown a significant downward trend. Deputies will be aware that Central Statistics Office official recorded crime statistics for 2016 show a decrease in burglary offences of 30% when compared to the previous 12-month period in 2015. This reflects the success of the concerted Garda drive against crime being implemented under Operation Thor. It should also be noted that crime prevention officers actively engage with community groups to promote the safer communities campaign and advise residents on a regular basis of ways to increase their personal safety and the security of their property.

Deputy O'Callaghan and others referenced the need for legislative response. As part of the concerted strategy to combat burglary, the Government has made it a priority to secure the enactment of specific legislation to target prolific burglars in the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015. The provisions are now available to gardaí to support prosecutions arising from Operation Thor. Furthermore, the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014 introduced the DNA database. This provides gardaí with links of investigation or hits between people and unsolved crimes, including burglaries. It is anticipated that this will further assist in improving detection rates for burglary over the coming months.

The area of bail law has attracted the attention of Deputies opposite. As part of the Government's response to crime, one of our major objectives is to focus on the key area of strengthening the law to get tougher on serious and repeat offenders. In that context, the new Criminal Justice Act 2017, enacted in June, fulfils a commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government. The Act specifically provides that the courts must have regard to persistent serious offending by an applicant seeking bail. Among its key provisions, the Act expands the factors that a court may take into account in refusing bail to include the extent to which previous convictions for serious offences indicate persistent serious offending as well as the likelihood of any danger to a person or the community that could be caused by the release of the accused on bail. Where bail is granted, the Act increases the range of conditions that may be attached to include prohibiting contact by the accused with the victim or the victim's family and the imposition of curfews in communities. The Act also provides a Garda power of arrest without warrant where a condition of bail is breached and it is necessary to arrest the person immediately to prevent harm to the victim or a witness. Section 7 of the Criminal Justice Act 2017 amends the existing provisions for the electronic monitoring of persons on bail to facilitate the focused and targeted use of monitoring in cases where it is most likely to be effective. The Act provides that electronic monitoring may be imposed as a bail condition if the prosecution applies to the court for such a condition.

To facilitate the implementation of these provisions, my Department is currently chairing a working group comprising officials from the Department of Justice and Equality, the Irish Prison Service, the Probation Service, the Courts Service, An Garda Síochána and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The group has been tasked with examining a range of issues surrounding the implementation of electronic monitoring in an Irish context. I expect the report to come to me before the end of the year. In recent times I have had talks with the New Zealand Police Commissioner and I observed the operation of electronic monitoring devices. It is clear that targeted use can be effective but that these devices by no means represent a magic bullet and that multiple responses are required.

The programme for Government commits to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country to maintain and strengthen community engagement, to provide reassurance to citizens and deter crime. The budget will support the continuation of the high level of investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the overall vision of a workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains firmly on-track. A further 800 new Garda recruits will enter the Garda College and an additional 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps throughout the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of gardaí from technical and administrative duties to front-line operational duties. In addition, there are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new reservists expected to commence training early in 2018.

We must all remain vigilant in the fight against all forms of criminality in our communities. I assure Deputies that the Garda Commissioner and I remain in ongoing contact to counter new and emerging crime trends. Operation Thor has proved successful to date and the Government remains committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána will have the necessary resources to tackle crime in our communities.

Later, the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs, Deputy McEntee, and my constituency colleague, Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, will address the House on other measures raised, including CCTV, the highly successful community text alert programme, and criminal legal aid, as well as further actions being taken by An Garda Síochána in the fight against rural crime. I urge communities to avail of the range of schemes in place and to work with local gardaí and their local joint policing committee to ensure we win the fight against crime and criminality in our communities.

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