Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to drown the Dáil in statistics and yearly comparisons. I just make the point that we try to compare the last year before there were Covid restrictions which was 2019 - last normal year - with 2022, the first year without Covid restrictions. During the pandemic years when everyone was at home with lockdown periods and the likes, that obviously had a downward impact on much criminal activity for a variety of reasons. There can always be local and regional-specific reasons from time to time. We can see burglary trends in a certain direction. Through Operation Thor, the Garda tries to respond to those trends through the deployment of additional resources.

I think the Deputy will agree with me that key to this is increasing the size of the Garda force, enabling the Garda Commissioner to have more men and women in An Garda Síochána who can be deployed in every part of the country, including in parts of Cork so that we can see an increase in community policing, presence on the streets and engagement with the community. That will be our priority for this year and next year.

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