Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate very much the opportunity to speak on this most important motion. I thank our Whip, Deputy Mattie McGrath, and Triona and David in his office, for the research work they did to bring forward this very important item. I thank everyone who contributed tonight. Deputy Bobby Aylward has just left the Chamber but I thank him for being here up until now. Apart from the Minister of State and Deputies in the Rural Independent Group there is no one else remaining in the Chamber. I ask anybody to look around the Chamber and then talk about rural crime and what is happening in our countryside where old people are being terrorised in their own homes. They should look around the Chamber and see how seriously other Deputies are taking this issue. They are not taking it very seriously at all. It is a very important motion that highlights an issue. We are seeking to do this for the future and for the protection of our most vulnerable people. It is not entirely about rural crime but it has an awful lot to do with rural crime.

The Minister of State spoke about statistics. I will give him a statistic in a simple way. There are nine people who I know personally who were the victims of crime. I will tell the Minister of State what type of crime was involved. The windscreen of one person's car was broken and items were taken from inside the car. Another person's home heating oil was taken. It was not diesel oil for agricultural use. That is just to give examples. I rang the nine people and said I would never divulge their names but wanted to know if they had reported the crime to the gardaí. Of nine, two had reported it. I do not blame the gardaí. I hear senior gardaí talking about how they are combatting crime and stating that numbers are decreasing. It is no disrespect to the gardaí but they are going on false information. I would go so far as to say the majority of crime is not reported in Ireland. The Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, are shooting in the dark because they are not being given the information. My colleagues in the Rural Independent Group and I always encourage our constituents to report every crime. How can we adequately say we need more resources in rural areas if we are not proving the crimes are being committed? It is the same issue with local authorities. How can Kerry County Council put in applications for funding for an accident prone spot unless we are reporting when a car hits the ditch or when two cars collide because of a dangerous camber on a road? How can we adequately seek funding unless the incidents are being reported? It was a unanimous decision of the Rural Independent Group to use our very valuable Private Members' time to discuss this issue on behalf of the people who send us up here. We are very proud to be here to talk up for people, whether they are from Valentia Island, north Kerry, south Kerry or west Kerry. My job is to be here to support them. We are out every night of the week.

We are meeting people who are afraid inside their own homes. There was a time when if someone inside in a house heard a rattle in the yard or a car or somebody coming, he would have a smile on his face wondering who was coming and was there some bit of gossip, some bit of a racket, some bit of a story that he would be told that night or what bit of entertainment was coming.

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