Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I attended a meeting last night in Nenagh, held by north Tipperary IFA. I am glad the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Charles Flanagan, is in the House. The people of Tipperary are bewildered at the inaction of the Government. This is another obstacle in their way. We were promised reform of the bail laws. We enacted legislation allowing for electronic tagging of known criminals but not one criminal has been tagged. What is the blockage to protection of our people? The programme for Government is very strong on this issue. People are being neglected and are living in fear. Among those who attended the meeting last night were people from the constituency of the Minister for Agriculture, food and the Marine, Deputy Michael Creed, who also feel abandoned. The Garda Síochána wants to do its work but it needs the tools of the trade to do so. The issue of free legal aid must be tackled and also the bail laws. Nothing is happening and the tagging of individuals is not being implemented. The people of Ireland and, in particular, Tipperary are rising up and are very angry about this situation. The Government should take note. The people from the constituency of the Minister, Deputy Creed, said that they had spoken to him about the issue for 20 minutes last week but that it was a waste of time.

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