Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 and 84 together. The Deputy focuses on rural issues in his question. I might address city centres, towns and villages in my second response. My thoughts are with the victims of the most recent horrific attacks. This happened in their own home. It should never happen to anybody. An Garda Síochána is conducting a criminal investigation. I hope the Deputy appreciates that I will not comment specifically on individual cases. However, I know that I speak for everyone in this House in condemning these senseless and cowardly attacks and the belief that the people responsible need to be brought to justice. We support the gardaí in their work in that regard. Although rare, incidents like these are terrifying not only for the victims themselves but for their families and the wider community. Home is the one place we should all feel safe in, and fear in one’s own home is something that can never be tolerated. I assure the Deputy that my Department is committed to ensuring we have strong, visible policing right across both rural and urban Ireland.

As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána. As Minister, I have no role. I will outline much of the work that the Commissioner and his team are doing. This year’s winter phase of Operation Thor was launched by gardaí in October 2021 and is designed to tackle burglaries and associated criminal activities, which often increase in the darker winter months. They intend to do that through targeted enforcement and crime prevention activity and information. We all see that and work closely with our crime prevention officers in our own counties and constituencies. This annual focus from Operation Thor has proven highly successful in tackling property related crime since its inception in November 2015. Looking at the figures, in 2015, more than 18,800 residential burglaries were reported. By contrast, in 2021, just over 6,000 residential burglaries were reported, a reduction of over 66% or approximately 13,000 less residential burglaries. We have obviously seen a decrease with Covid in the last year, but we know that in the years before 2021, that number was also decreasing. I think we can attribute much of that to Operation Thor as well as the increased number of gardaí on the beat. While the Covid-19 pandemic was clearly a factor in some of this reduction, there has been a marked and consistent downward trend since Operation Thor was introduced.

The budget provided by Government to the Garda Commissioner continues to increase to unprecedented levels, with an allocation of more than €2 billion for 2022, which is an increase of one third compared with the funding in 2015. I hope that highlights how much of a priority investment in An Garda Síochána is. The recruitment of up to 800 additional gardaí opened last week, as well as recruitment for 400 Garda staff. This significant investment demonstrates our commitment to increasing the Garda workforce to enable the organisation to keep our communities safe. The Deputy will be aware of a recruitment competition that we opened last week. I thank the many people who highlighted this and the significant number of people who have come forward to express an interest in joining An Garda Síochána.

In addition to new recruits, the roll-out of the new Garda operational model will support the redeployment of gardaí from non-core duties to front-line policing across the country. The new model will see larger divisions with more resources, increased Garda visibility in communities, a wider range of locally-delivered policing services and a strong focus on community policing. It is the five divisional model. There will be one with a specific focus on community policing. I think Members can all appreciate, recognise and acknowledge how important it is to have community police officers and how much engagement they have with older communities to reassure and work with them to make sure that they can keep their homes safe.

Budget 2022 also allocated €12 million for investment in the Garda fleet, which is extremely important for rural Ireland. It means we have more high visibility policing in our towns and cities, as well as rural parts of the country. This continued investment is to ensure that An Garda Síochána has a more fit-for-purpose fleet and it can be mobile, visible and responsive on the roads. There are many small back roads in Ireland that we have to cover too.

See this speech in context