Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As our spokesperson on justice said, we will be supporting this motion. There will be a lot of repetition by rural Deputies because the problems are common across all of our constituencies. The first point I want to make is about trespass laws and the legitimate concerns of landowners and businesses which cannot avail of the criminal law to force trespassers off their property. This is a serious issue in rural Ireland. Gangs are going around the country under the mask of hunting but the law does not allow the landowners to report that as a criminal offence. It is seen as a civil wrong, and this needs to be corrected in legislation. Trespass must be seen as a criminal offence. It needs to be stamped out in rural areas and trespass laws need to change.

The other aspect is legal aid and frequent access to it. In the last eight years €430 million has been spent on free legal aid which can be sought orally without any documentation to verify the financial circumstances of the accused. Citizens against whom criminal acts are being perpetrated, one of whom was on local radio this morning to discuss their property being broken into for the seventh time, see the person accused accessing legal aid on an ongoing basis, which is extremely frustrating and disheartening.

I also raise with the Minister the issue of manpower in Garda stations. In one Garda station in County Tipperary there are ten gardaí out of work owing to injury as a result of assaults or stress, maternity leave or other unpaid leave. The shortfall is not being made up by the Commissioner and stations are short-handed. This is extremely bad for the morale of gardaí and leaves the sergeants in charge unable to police their areas properly. With the ongoing ban on overtime, this puts gardaí on the ground in an impossible position.

I could make many more points than those three to the Minister, but I must give my Fianna Fáil colleagues an opportunity to contribute.

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