Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be able to introduce this motion with my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group. I thank Triona and David in Deputy Mattie McGrath’s office for their assistance in this regard.

Coming from a rural area in west Cork, I know only too well the fear and worry caused by rural crime in our communities, especially among isolated people living alone who may be elderly and vulnerable. The prolonged closures of rural Garda stations are without doubt the biggest contributor to the fear that exists around this issue. The role of gardaí in rural Garda station is very important in crime prevention. They work with local communities and community groups such as community alert in preventing crime and that role cannot be underestimated.

In my constituency a number of Garda stations have been closed, including in Castletownsend, Ballygurteen, Goleen, Adrigole and Ballinspittle. During the talks for Government, I and other independent rural Deputies highlighted the mistake made by the previous Fine Gael-Labour Party Government in closing rural Garda stations. We were told by members of the previous Government that rural Garda stations were only bricks and mortar. The politicians and decision makers were totally wrong. They underestimated the harm they were about to do to rural Ireland. During the talks for Government, it was agreed by the present Government to reopen a number of these Garda stations. By agreeing to reopen Garda stations, mainly in rural Ireland, the Government acknowledged that wrong had been done.

Unfortunately, the Government has continued to make decisions that make life very difficult for people in rural Ireland. I am not sure it understands rural isolation. The previous Government definitely did not understand the fear that many people in rural Ireland lived under as a result of its policies. I have seen at first hand the people of Ballinspittle working hard as a community to have their Garda station reopened. In spite of promises to reopen the station, they are still waiting. I have asked the Minister for Justice and Equality many times in this Chamber to give the people of Ballinspittle an exact date for the reopening of the town's Garda station. The people of Ballinspittle and west Cork deserve to know exactly when that Garda station will reopen. I call again on the Minister to give a definite date for the reopening of Ballinspittle Garda station. I would welcome him to west Cork. Rather than going out to Stepaside to keep the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, happy, he should come to west Cork and keep us happy and safe. We are sick and tired of promises with no delivery date. I would appreciate if he was in a position to make an announcement on that matter this evening.

I commend the individuals and community groups who volunteer their time to the task of community policing, a community orientated style of policing. I am proud to have been involved in Schull community alert scheme for the past 25 years. There is no doubt that community policing helps to tackle crime prevention, with a view to building trust and enhancing the quality of life for the entire community. I ask the Minister for Justice and Equality and Garda Commissioner to make a clear statement as to what community policing is because it remains unclear as to the boundaries of community policing. The Garda Commissioner needs to work with people on the ground and be clear about the role of community policing.

To tackle rural crime, more resources must be allocated to groups like Muintir na Tíre. Mr. Damian Cronin in west Cork is being stretched to the limit as he seeks to ease the minds of people in rural areas. More funding is needed for community alert groups. A scheme is needed to enable elderly people to apply for grants to pay for sensor lights and closed circuit television, CCTV, systems to protect their properties. This scheme should be similar to the successful scheme providing the personal alarms that many elderly people wear around their necks or wrists and the text alert schemes. Text alert was first suggested by a little group in Schull in west Cork. At the time, we were treated as if we all had two heads, whereas everyone wants to run with the system now. Under text alert, which is run by Muintir na Tíre, communities are alerted to crime or suspicious activity in their neighbourhood.

Immediate funding needs to be provided for the installation of CCTV systems in all our rural towns and villages. CCTV is already in place in many towns, including Schull where I was involved in the community alert committee that had it installed. Problems have arisen with CCTV being installed in Bandon. This is a very serious issue for people in the town, many of whom have called me to see if we can push the scheme across the line. Many towns in west Cork have CCTV systems in place and they have significantly reduced crime. CCTV is a necessity in the towns and villages of west Cork.

The Garda youth awards is a great initiative by the Garda for commending young people on their vigilance and the good they do in their communities. I was honoured to be asked to attend the Garda youth awards last December in Castletownbere. It was an uplifting experience to see how much great work the youth of our local communities are doing in their areas. We need to acknowledge that 99% of our young people are good natured.

We have a large number of community alert groups in west Cork which work closely with the Garda to prevent crime and discuss with the Garda all options for preventing crime. Their work is invaluable.

The Rural Independent Group has called for the establishment of a dedicated rural crime task force to ensure all relevant Departments co-ordinate with An Garda Síochána to identify and address specific challenges when dealing with rural crime. We also call on the Government to conduct an immediate review of the operation of the bail laws, specifically with respect to addressing the provision of free legal aid to repeat offenders time and again and identifying possible abuses of the legal aid scheme.

The motion makes some specific long-term recommendations with respect to identifying and preventing rural crime and introducing greater fairness to the operation of the justice system. We remain convinced, however, that there are simple things that can also be done in the immediate term to create a greater sense of protection in rural Ireland. We have a saying that the man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away some small stones. We are calling on the Government to introduce simple measures such as increasing Garda visibility in rural communities. People want to see local gardaí on patrol in the community, not just for the protection of property against theft but also for peace of mind on a day-to-day basis.

On 20 December last, an awful crime in Bantry in my constituency left the local community in shock and afraid. There is a great community alert group in Gortnacloona. At 11.45 on the night in question, two armed men dressed in dark clothing and wearing balaclavas entered a house. The occupants of the house were present but thankfully no one was injured. This was a deeply disturbing crime for the people involved and the local community. It is natural that people feel increasingly violated and vulnerable in rural Ireland when crimes such as this happen. That is why the Rural Independent Group is also calling for a review of the trespass laws aimed at strengthening the rights of farmers, landowners and property owners to protect their property and person.

Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government (Deputy Eoghan Murphy):

We know that rural communities are very much open to active collaboration with the Garda and with all the various agencies and Departments that can help in reducing the incidence of rural crime. That is the reason the Rural Independent Group and I will be pushing for a dedicated rural crime task force to be established on a permanent basis where such collaboration can be targeted and focused to achieve the best possible outcomes. It is vital that action is carried out to allow these groups put in place prevention measures and to stop rural crime altogether around west Cork and all over the country.

The Garda Commissioner needs to explain how he sees the role of the Garda in our communities. Are all the resources being spent on the traffic corps to try and clean up the mess created by the Minister, Deputy Ross? That is how people see it. We know the gardaí work best with people in communities, nipping much crime in the bud, as they always did. Community gardaí encourage people to report crime carried out on their properties. People now feel it is worthless to report crime and many are scared in case it will cause them more trouble as they do not have the same access to the Garda as they did in the past when gardaí lived in the area. It was important for people in the past that when the local gardaí were appointed to an area they lived in the area. It was a considerable boost to the community. I could name numerous members of the force that are either retired or still active. When they were on the beat little or no crime took place. When they drove through the town they knew who should or who should not be in the town at any given time. Rural community policing is gone and has been replaced in many cases with the traffic corps. While those gardaí are carrying out their duties they anger people instead of working with communities. I am aware of some great community gardaí such as Garda Jonathan McCarthy in Ballydehob. He would see a needle out of place. Garda John McCarthy in Kilbrittain is another great garda on the beat and Garda Eamonn White is another great community garda. Those are the type of people the Garda needs to look at and to build a system around them if we want to have safe communities in the future as we had in the past.

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