Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, is here and I thank him for taking this Topical Issue himself. I am sure the spike in the number of burglaries is not unique to my area or Cork in general. However, it is a huge problem and people are very concerned and fearful. To place the matter in context, Cork city and county saw 324 burglaries in the last three months of 2017, which represents an increase of 40% year on year. That is to say burglaries were up 40% compared to the last quarter of 2016. Thefts from vehicles were up from 144 to 202, which is also a significant increase. The particular area I am highlighting this evening is the Togher Garda district which includes some of the most rapidly expanding communities in Cork, namely Douglas, Carrigaline, Passage West, Crosshaven and Togher itself. There has been a dramatic surge in the number of burglaries in that area. If one takes the example of the town I live in, Carrigaline, there have been more than 20 burglaries in the last three months alone. There have been burglaries right across the Togher Garda district and beyond, including in Glanmire, Blarney and so on. It seems to be a problem gardaí do not have the resources to respond to adequately. When I sought statistics on Garda resources in my area, the reply I received showed that Cork city got just 38 of the 1,600 new gardaí who have qualified since 2014. The second largest city in the country got just over 2% of the newly qualified gardaí since 2014. We are not getting our fair share. The Minister might hear that from representatives all over the country, but the statistics bear it out in this case.

The Garda stations in my area are very poorly equipped. They are meant to be open for a certain number of hours, but they make it clear that they may not be open during those hours at all in circumstances in which the gardaí on duty may be called away. In Carrigaline and Douglas, which are very large commuter towns, there are no set guaranteed hours during which the Garda stations will be open. People who have very straightforward requirements like having a passport form stamped must go to the district headquarters in Togher as that is the only 24-7 station in the district. My own observation is that there are not enough civilians working there. The Minister has spoken about increased civilianisation but I went there a number of weeks ago myself to get passport forms stamped and I felt sorry for the garda on duty. He was on his own, the phone was hopping and he was trying to answer it and deal with my issue at the same time.

Carrigaline has a population of approximately 17,000 and Douglas has a population of approximately 40,000 but the Garda numbers there are far too low. It is very evident that gardaí do not have the resources they need. We are not seeing enough foot or vehicle patrols by gardaí and there must be more support from the overall Garda division. We need to see Operation Thor in our area and more checkpoints. Visibility is vital, not only as a deterrent but as a way to build confidence among residents in the local community. I am liaising and working with gardaí locally, including the chief superintendent. I have raised these issues directly with the acting Garda Commissioner and I await a detailed response. I hope the Minister will take up these issues and ensure we get greater Garda resources which are appropriate to the scale and growth of the areas I represent.

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