Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Templemore being open of course. We need more gardaí and we need support for them. The figures quoted by the Taoiseach are just a fraction of what we need to tackle crime.

People are sick and tired of these private consultancy companies. The Taoiseach has admitted that his Department is unable to do this. We are talking about the amount of money spent by one Department. I am not expecting the Taoiseach to understand the frustration of the people, but he should. The Taoiseach set up his own specialist communications unit at a cost of €5 million. That shows how much he cares about the people. A parliamentary question revealed that €112,000 was spent last year by his Department on entertainment for the guests of the Taoiseach, €78,000 on photography and advertising and €99,000 on newspapers, magazines, tea and coffee. People see this largesse and they expect two-way dealing.

The Taoiseach is laughing. I would prefer if he listened, with respect. It is not funny for the victims of crime in this country, those who have nobody to help them and who have been abandoned. We have seen the failure to react to the cervical cancer issue. This is no laughing matter. It is a serious matter in rural Ireland. Fine Gael is a farce but of course, €606 million goes to its friends in the legal profession. The people have been abandoned. The attitude seems to be to let them eat cake. The Government will know, when it knocks on doors to look for votes, how the people feel. They are terrified in their homes.

Schemes such as the CCTV scheme and text alert should be paid for and should be easily accessible, not cumbersome for communities to implement. Communities are holding coffee mornings to pay for text alerts to warn the Garda when an issue arises. We want to support the Garda; I always support them. However, we cannot have this misery perpetrated on people, who are expected to just lick it up.

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