James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy, who consistently raises issues with regard to the protection and safety of his constituency of Cork North-Central. The budget provided by Government to the Garda Commissioner has increased to unprecedented levels with more than €2 billion allocated this year, including funding for the recruitment of up to 800 additional Garda trainees and up to 400 Garda staff. This is a significant investment and demonstrates the Government's commitment to increasing the Garda workforce to enable the organisation to keep our communities safe. To this end, the Deputy will be aware that a Garda recruitment campaign closed earlier this month and I am delighted to note that there was strong interest with over 10,000 applications received.

As the Deputy may be aware, the Central Statistics Office publishes reported crime figures under reservation on a quarterly basis. These figures include the category of theft or taking of a vehicle and related offences and indicate that the lowest annual volumes of car theft in over a decade were reported nationwide during 2020 and 2021. I am informed by the Garda authorities that, following the lifting of pandemic restrictions this year, there has been a return to a more normal level of reported offences. The figures to date are akin to those from 2019 in many areas.

The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the organisation's approaches to preventing and investigating criminal activity. I am advised that local Garda management continues to monitor trends in crime, including incidents of unauthorised taking of vehicles, across divisions. I understand that, when specific crime trends or patterns are identified, local management considers additional measures outside of normal policing responses including location-specific patrols, intelligence-led operations and searches and arrests to combat known individuals involved in such crimes. As the Deputy will appreciate, these measures are best implemented on a local basis and this is an operational decision for the Garda.

I am also advised that there is ongoing co-operation between detective and uniformed units to combat the recent escalation in crimes and that both high visibility and covert patrols are proactively being conducted. Furthermore, the Garda Síochána analysis service assists with data analysis to monitor crime trends.

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