Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is an important and complex debate because there are different types of rural crime and different areas suffer in different ways. According to the statistics, more isolated rural areas are less prone to crime than those that are more adjacent to urbanised areas and, generally, burglary rates tend to be less in rural areas than urban ones. However, it is a scary experience no matter where it happens and it is one that we must address. We can prevent it.

High-tech crime is a factor, with organised groups travelling down motorways and so on. Technology plays a large part in eliminating that crime, but what is generally not realised is that there are other parts of the country where most of the crime emanates from within 10 miles or 20 miles of where it takes place. A major mistake has been made where such local break-ins are concerned.

The biggest deterrent to local break-ins is a garda resident in the community. Putting people into patrol cars and having them drive around an area now and again is no substitute for the intelligence gathered by somebody living in the community. Time and again we have seen that having a good garda who is resident in a community has a major effect. In more recent times, we have noticed that even when one is lucky enough to have a resident garda, he or she is brought into the main centres of population, away from communities. We are denied the one thing that creates security, facilitates information and intelligence gathering and prevents crimes in communities, particularly those in which certain young people might be tempted not to stay on the straight and narrow. Community gardaí create security for people and get rid of much of the fear factor.

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