Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have 20 minutes and I will be sharing my time with seven of my colleagues. The reason we have 20 minutes is because the Fianna Fáil Whip's office was inundated with Deputies from my party who wanted to speak on this motion. These are Deputies who want to speak in a measured and factual way, to quote the Minister's language. The reason they want to speak is because rural crime is such an issue in their constituencies. It is not some fictitious issue that has been raised in this House by the Rural Independent Group.

It will come as no surprise to the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and other Members to learn that Fianna Fáil is supporting the motion. The reason it will not come as a surprise is that 13 months ago, we put forward a motion on rural crime that dealt with many of the issues that are identified in the motion before the House. The reason that motion was put forward some 13 months ago was because of the continuing concern of Fianna Fáil Deputies, not just in rural areas but also in urban areas, about the issue of crime in our community.

Let us be clear about what was debated 13 months ago and what we believe to be the issue 13 months later, as we discuss it this evening. The most important requirement for Fianna Fáil Deputies and members of the community is greater visibility of members of An Garda Síochána in their communities and constituencies. That adds to the confidence local people have in the Garda force that protects them and gives them a sense that work is actively being done on the ground to ensure crime is tackled. I note that in the city of Dublin, such visibility has improved in recent times and anyone travelling around Dublin will say they notice more gardaí out on the street and on the beat. I will be interested to hear what my colleagues from rural constituencies have to say on whether that is replicated in rural areas. Obviously, it is also important that if there are more gardaí out on the streets, they are not simply being used for the very important issue of detection of road traffic offences. They must also be there to deal with the other forms of criminal behaviour that take place in our constituencies.

We need to look at what else was discussed in the debate some 13 months ago. One of the issues we raised was that of technology. It is still the case that the CCTV scheme that was rolled out many years ago by the Government is being under-utilised, in particular because the scheme is too difficult for local communities to operate and implement. The Minister and the Government need to be much more proactive about ensuring local communities and the community in general have the benefit of CCTV. We know from areas where it is used that it acts as a very real deterrent to crime. The Minister must take greater responsibility in this respect, as must the Government, to ensure that local communities both know it is available and how they can use it.

On the last occasion, some 13 months ago, I also raised the issue of our bail laws and how they need to be strengthened. Fianna Fáil acted on this issue. We introduced legislation that got through Second Stage and which sought to make our bail laws stronger so there would be a presumption that a person convicted of a serious offence in the five years previous to when he or she applied for bail would not get it. Although we managed to get it through the House on Second Stage, we were opposed by the Government and we were also opposed by the Government on Committee Stage. Unfortunately, given the reality of the numbers in the House, we are not going to get that through. However, the Minister and the Government need to recognise we have a problem with our bail laws and it is not some fiction that is created by politicians.

I will hand over to my colleagues from rural constituencies to let them speak. We will be supporting the motion.

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