Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I compliment Deputy O'Callaghan on introducing the legislation. The legislation is worthwhile and it mirrors a growing concern among the general public about crimes committed by people who are on bail. The criminal justice system has to be overhauled several times. It is a work in progress because there are people who are trying to outsmart it and outdo it in every way.

I heard on the radio yesterday that it is 22 years since Veronica Guerin as killed. Crime has destroyed communities and families. We reflect on the speed with which legislation changes but the legislation before us will be important as we go forward. The reality is that a huge number of crimes are being perpetrated by people who are out on bail. We need to enact this legislation fairly rapidly. It is needed in order to ensure that people in their own homes and businesses are free from fear of a raft of crimes right across the spectrum. We associate burglaries with late evening and the end of the year but there have been a number of them in the past week. Burglaries were attempted between Botharbue and Newmarket on a fine summer's day. All of that leads to a huge fear among families and elderly people who are living on their own. When they read about individuals who are out on bail committing crimes and see that 1,200 serial offenders have committed burglaries while out on bail, it feeds into the impression that there is nobody in charge and that the Garda does not have the powers or legislative resources to deal with these issues. This is where we have to come from. We have to ensure that, in so far as possible, every deterrent is put in place to ensure crime is not profitable.

That is what Deputy O'Callaghan is doing in this Bill. Gardaí are working flat out. In some instances it must be very frustrating for members of An Garda Síochána to know who is committing these crimes. Burglaries alone instil great fear in all communities, rural and urban. The latest development is bicycles stolen from garden sheds all over Dublin. Many communities in rural Ireland have set up their own community alert or community watch. They have all put up cameras. The old open door policy in rural Ireland had to cease because of the fear communities live in.

The opening hours of the Garda station in Kanturk have been curtailed and services moved to the central barracks in Mallow. There has always been a 24-hour Garda presence in the capital of the Duhallow region, which is Kanturk. That needs to be considered because there are sprawling rural communities in the area. The farming community has been prone to many robberies of equipment and so forth. We have to have a serious conversation about where this equipment ends up when it is sold. We must ensure that it has no sell-on value. I compliment Deputy O'Callaghan on the Bill and ask the Government to make sure it goes through as soon as possible.

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