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

The Minister also needs to consider resourcing An Garda Síochána in respect of this. Serious criminals are carrying out these crimes. We do not know whether they are armed but it would not surprise me if they are when they commit these offences. We know that in the northern region there is an armed support unit split between Louth and Donegal. The Minister needs to give serious consideration to the immediate establishment and resourcing of an armed support unit for the Cavan-Monaghan region. This is the area where many of these thefts take place. Many of these armed gangs operate in the Border region. We need to ensure that the gardaí are adequately resourced to deal with them. The next question I will deal with is the issue in Drogheda and what needs to be done there but policing the Border is a difficult and dangerous task for An Garda Síochána and the Minister needs to ensure that they are fully resourced to detect and deter these types of offences.

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