Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure Deputy Michael McGrath that An Garda Síochána continues carefully to monitor the activities of criminal groups affecting all areas of the country, including Cork city and the surrounding areas as raised by the Deputy. I also assure him that we are ensuring the implementation of strong policing measures to disrupt and dismantle the networks of criminal gangs. The Deputy will appreciate that it is the acting Garda Commissioner and his management team who are responsible for the deployment of Garda resources. However, in terms of specific actions being taken by An Garda Síochána in the district, I am advised by the Garda authorities that as a result of information derived from intelligence sources and investigations, a number of mobile organised criminal gangs have come into focus in Cork. I am further advised that a strong crime prevention element has been put in place in the Cork city division consisting of a number of measures including uniformed Operation Thor patrols, a dedicated detective unit assigned to patrol the off-ramps to Cork city and improved communication between Cork north and Cork west divisions and other regions with motorway access to Cork. These measures are further supported by the armed support unit.

As the Deputy will be aware, very significant resources have been provided to An Garda Síochána, including the overtime allocation of almost €100 million announced in budget 2018, to support large-scale policing operations, including Operation Thor, to which the Deputy referred. It is also worth noting that Operation Thor has now entered its winter phase, which runs from October to April. Indeed, provisional operational material released by the Garda in January of this year indicated a significant drop in burglary rates for the two-month period of November and December 2017. This success has been attributed to the winter phase of Operation Thor. Of course, these figures should be viewed with caution until such time as the publication of the official crime statistics has recommenced.

The scale of Garda activity against burglary and property-related crime under Operation Thor nationally has led to concentrated Garda activity. As of 18 January 2018, 105,790 targeted checkpoints and 99,210 crime prevention patrols have been conducted nationwide. To give the House an idea of the impact of the operation, I note that this concentrated policing activity has produced approximately 6,600 arrests and 7,420 charges covering a range of offences which, in addition to burglary, include handling stolen property, the possession of firearms and many drug offences.

As part of the concerted strategy to combat burglary, the Government has made it a priority to secure the enactment of specific legislation targeting prolific burglars, namely, the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015. The provisions of the Act are available to gardaí to support prosecutions arising from Operation Thor. Furthermore, the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act, which has been commenced, introduced the DNA database that provides gardaí with investigative links, or "hits", between people and unsolved crimes, including burglaries. It is anticipated that this will assist in improving detection rates for burglary in the coming years in the Cork city district, referred to by the Deputy, as well as throughout the country.

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