Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, a man was shot in broad daylight on Blakestown Road here in Dublin. Last week, we had another shooting in broad daylight at a retail park in Drogheda. These follow a spate of shootings and killings over the past number of weeks. Two men have died and others have been seriously injured as a result of criminal feuds. People in many communities are living in fear. They are great communities but they are being victimised by gangs. Those communities deserve a lot better. This is not just restricted to the urban areas. It also affects rural Ireland. The CSO statistics show that crime in nearly all categories has increased. Despite this, Garda youth diversion programmes are chronically under-funded as is the drugs task force. There are 1,000 fewer gardaí on the beat today than last year. What action is the Government taking to deal with this increased level of gangland crime? Is it not time for the Garda Commissioner's plan for redeploying gardaí to the front line to be fast tracked?

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