Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The most recent report from An Garda Síochána, entitled Policing with Local Communities, made for some very interesting reading. Its recommendations only support what others have said here tonight. Some of these recommendations mirror the concerns of the general public. Under the heading "Rural Crime and the Fear of Crime", it states:

During this inspection, a number of local people and organisations representing communities raised the issue of rural crime and the high fear of crime experienced by some people. Geography and rural isolation present challenges for the Garda Síochána in terms of visibility and providing reassurance. Additionally some rural areas have experienced the closure of local stations and seen reductions in the number of community policing gardaí. Recognising the concerns about crime in rural communities, the Inspectorate believes that a multi-agency rural crime prevention and reassurance partnership should be developed to tackle crime and the fear of crime in rural communities.

The report raises the issue of visibility. It states:

The Garda Public Attitudes Survey measures visibility and in 2017 only 36% of adults reported that gardaí patrolled their area regularly (98% of which was in cars). Awareness of gardaí patrolling on foot was 12% and on bicycles 5%.

The report goes on to state, as previously advised by the Minister, that budgetary constraints from 2018 to 2021 will significantly impact the delivery of the Garda building and refurbishment programme from 2016 to 2022 and subsequently the capacity of An Garda Síochána to implement the Garda modernisation and renewal programme.

The Minister says the Garda report is contradictory to what he is saying. On the issue of the Garda fleet, 2,771 modes of transport are registered but over 1,076 are six years or more old as of 31 July 2018. Garda management in County Cork says that crime rates are increasing. In a report made to Cork County Council's joint policing committee on Monday 23 October, Garda commissioners from all three policing divisions said that they have recorded 1,734 incidents of property crime between July and September compared with 1,345 cases for the same period last year. Crimes against persons have also increased, from 489 to 622, with incidents of burglaries increasing from 163 to 269 when compared with 2016 figures. Despite the best efforts of An Garda Síochána, crime is on the rise, and if we do not support the gardaí, we will lose the battle against crime. The Minister of State is well aware that we had two serious cases over the Christmas period in Midleton and I wish those two victims a very speedy recovery. I urge the Government to withdraw its amendment and support gardaí and the Rural Independent Group on tonight's motion.

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