Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to be able to speak on this important motion and I am glad to see it coming before the Dáil tonight. Coming from a rural area in Cork South-West, I know too well the fear and worry of rural crime in our communities, and especially for isolated people living alone who may be elderly and vulnerable.

Last week, I spoke about the Government's failure to rural-proof its action. The prolonged closures of rural Garda stations around the country are without doubt the biggest contributor to the fear that exists around this issue. A number of Garda stations in my own constituency, including Ballygurteen, Goleen, Adrigole and Ballinspittle, have faced closure. I might add that the people of Ballinspittle are working tirelessly together as a community to unite to reopen their Garda station. They are urgently awaiting a decision to overturn the closure in that busy town.

I know full well, but for the communities such as Kilbrittain and the Garda station retention committee group that was set up in west Cork, we would have faced further closures of Garda stations in west Cork. Thankfully, we worked hard, and closely together, throughout west Cork and prevented that. If it had happened, it would have led to further crime in rural parts of west Cork.

To tackle rural crime, more resources must be allocated to groups such as Muintir na Tíre so that they can further allocate funding to communities or groups around the country. A scheme needs to be put in place where the elderly can apply for a grant for their homes for sensor lights and CCTV to protect their properties. This scheme should be similar to the successful one for personal alarms that many elderly wear around their neck or wrist, and also the successful text alert systems that are run by Muintir na Tíre that alert communities of crimes or suspicious activity in their neighbourhood.

Immediate funding needs to be put in place to erect CCTV in all rural towns and villages. This is in many of these towns already. One of which I can mention is Schull, as I was involved in the community alert group there. A large number of CCTV have been erected in this popular tourist village and as a result, there has been a significant drop in crime levels.

Schemes such as the Garda youth awards are great initiatives led by the Garda to commend our young people for the good that they do and their vigilance in their communities. Some 99% of our young people are good natured and need to be acknowledged for this.

We are lucky to have a strong number of community alert in my own constituency in west Cork which work closely with the Garda to prevent crime. At a recent divisional meeting in Bantry, a large number of people met the local superintendent and other members of the Garda Síochána and Muintir na Tíre. This meeting discussed all possible preventions of rural crime and it was encouraging to see so many taking an interest in this. It is vital that action is taken to allow these groups put in place these prevention measures and stop rural crime altogether around west Cork and the country.

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