Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Rural Independent Group, I would like to be associated with the expressions of sympathy on the tragic deaths of Ana Kriegel and Jastine Valdez and to thank all the emergency people, including An Garda Síochána and everybody else. These are atrocious crimes, and so sad.

This morning I received a reply to a parliamentary question I submitted to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that details expenses incurred by the Department last year. The list of costs is extraordinary. In one year, 2017, the Department paid out €3.5 million in consultancy fees. These included almost €1.5 million to Deloitte, financial risk management, under €0.25 million to the Horizon Energy Group for strategic advice and a further €216,000 to KPMG, which we might all remember was adviser and auditor to Irish Nationwide among others. It also included a payment of €182,000 for more research and advisory services to the Gartner company and €100,000 to Accenture, for research and advice.

I would like to contrast those costs with the entire budget made available to local and rural communities, everywhere outside Dublin, to install and operate closed-circuit television, CCTV, crime prevention schemes throughout the State, including my county, Tipperary. The entire budget for that scheme is just €3 million.

That is not only a pathetic amount for a national scheme, we know it is €500,000 less than one Department paid to private consultants in just one year. It is shocking. I raise this because I received an email this morning - we all got it - from the rural development chairman of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, ICSA, Mr. Seamus Sherlock. He referenced the huge frustration existing in rural communities regarding the close circuit television, CCTV, scheme. It is not working. It is cumbersome and people cannot access it. He went on to say that figures released by the Department of Justice and Equality indicate that a mere 4% of the €3 million funding for CCTV has been spent. It cannot be drawn down because it is so cumbersome. Only €120,000 has been spent as the scheme reaches the halfway point.

The report on agricultural crime in Ireland was compiled by Dr. Kathleen Moore-Walsh and Ms Louise Walsh. We know from the report that farmers and rural dwellers have chronic experiences with vandalism, criminal damage, trespass and theft, as well as an extensive level of repeat victimisation. Despite this, the Government in the last five years has paid out over €606 million in free legal aid. One individual was before the courts on 102 occasions with free legal aid. People are left defenceless. Does the Taoiseach accept that the stark difference I have outlined to him between the budgets reveals the utter contempt that he and his Government continue to display towards rural Ireland? There was €3 million for a national crime prevention strategy for communities that are living in fear while €3.5 million went to private consultants. Many of them are friends of the Taoiseach. Will he commit to increasing the budget for CCTV and other rural schemes? Will he also try to make the schemes user friendly? They should not be so cumbersome that communities cannot access them. I refer to the text alert scheme also. It has to be funded by local communities to protect themselves. It should be funded by the Department of Justice and Equality.

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