Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Caoláin and the committee for an excellent report. A lot of research was presented verbally and in other ways to the committee that helped to make this report what it is. I commend everyone involved in that regard.

All of us can recite incidents of types of crime in our communities, much of it similar but some of it more aggressive and violent than others. I have been involved in a lot of communities over the years, particularly communities in which there is a lot of poverty and unemployment. These are areas where people find it very difficult to get employment and areas where there are a lot of single parent families etc. I want to raise an issue that I do not think has been raised this evening, namely, illegal moneylenders.

This has been brought home to me in stark terms in recent weeks. I have met a number of very vulnerable people who have been living in fear for a number of years because of these thugs who act as illegal moneylenders. I have spoken to one person who borrowed €2,000 and who has had her hand broken and was beaten in her own house. She has paid back almost €30,000. That is the reality and her immediate family have suffered the consequences by living in poverty in their own home. I have met another family, in which a vulnerable woman borrowed €8,000 from two moneylenders. To date, she has repaid more than €60,000. I know of others who, when they collect their allowances weekly, have illegal moneylenders waiting to take money from them. The people concerned are so vulnerable and fearful that they are not confident or strong enough, because of the fear factor, to alert the authorities to what is happening. They have nobody to turn to. If they make a statement, they are threatened with having their houses burned down or, worse, having their children attacked. This happens across the island, where vulnerable women, in particular, caught in a poverty trap, find themselves in such situations.

I have always been a great believer in the community garda service. I have worked with community gardaí in areas where victims of anti-social activity have had violence inflicted on them. The work of community gardaí because of the relationship built with residents, with whom they are on first-name terms, has resulted in a remarkable change over time. Families might have a young lad who is going astray. The community garda is available to speak to that young person and his or her parents, to support them in making sure he attends school regularly. This is a substantial contributory factor in shaping the future of young people who may be headed down that road.

Whatever needs to be done to protect vulnerable women, in particular, from unscrupulous, vicious thugs who are acting as illegal money-lenders must be done. I am going to the Garda superintendent in my constituency with the names of people I know and the evidence I have been given by their victims. The fear I have is that the people who have given me this information will become targets if their names become known. They have to be protected. I will stress this point when I meet the Garda superintendent.

I will address the issue of rural crime, crimes committed against elderly people living in isolated rural areas, including those living on their own. They are the victims of roaming gangs that know that they are vulnerable and that there is no Garda station in the area, which is the case in most areas in rural Ireland now. The nearest Garda station might be 16 or 18 miles away. As a consequence, the people concerned find themselves at risk from this type of criminality and are living in permanent fear. Most are elderly and need protection and security. In the past there was a Garda station in practically every village in the country. It was not a nine-to-five but a 24-hour job for the garda in the area who was personally acquainted with everyone and knew everything about the lives of the people living in it.

Another aspect of the issue which has been raised, certainly by some of the Deputies for County Kerry, concerns those who go out hunting at night with lurchers. I am not talking about people who hunt with the permission of landowners and so on. The people to whom I am referring have no permission to go onto anybody's property. If anybody confronts or challenges them, he or she is threatened. The threats include having his or her house or car burned, or worse. There is a fear factor and it is difficult to get anybody to make a statement because if a person does makes one, he or she will become a target.

Deputies O'Loughlin and Martin Kenny mentioned domestic violence. People who have been the victims of domestic violence have found themselves in a protected environment, but the perpetrator of the domestic violence has even violated it. Addressing that issue requires someone to go into court to give evidence. There is then the fear factor because pressure is exerted on the person who makes the complaint.

I wish Deputy Ó Caoláin and his team well. They have done a fantastic job. The implementation of their recommendations must be paramount. I have no doubt that the committee will push to ensure that will be the case. The deployment of community gardaí on a small scale has had a substantial effect on the communities to which they have been deployed.

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