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

As the Deputy will be aware and as I have mentioned a number of times this evening, my priority is to ensure that we continue to increase the number of gardaí, that we do not just reach the target of 15,000 but go beyond it and that we ensure that every community benefits from that increase in numbers. Of course, it is a matter for the Garda Commissioner to decide where gardaí are allocated but he will always look at populations, crime trends and areas where the ratio or percentage is lower. In that regard, over recent years, Meath has seen a 14% increase in its allocation, which can be compared to an average increase of 8%. I fully accept that we have not reached the numbers we need to reach. I have raised this matter both as Minister and as a local Deputy. However, these figures show that, on a sustained basis, a higher percentage of gardaí are going to areas where they are needed. Meath is not the only county where we have seen an explosion in population. Kildare and others have experienced the same challenge.

With regard to the different types of offences and crimes, burglary and related offences are actually down 35%. These are statistics the Garda has given us. Public order and social order code offences are down 23% while controlled drug offences are down 18%, which is due to the significant hard work of An Garda Síochána in Meath. I commend this work. We need to make sure the numbers increase to support those working on the ground but those who are working in our county are the reason we are seeing a 35% reduction in burglaries, an 18% reduction in controlled drug offences and a 23% reduction in public order and social code offences. Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in the number of murders. This is a topic we have discussed previously. A number of people, women in particular, have been murdered in their own homes. It has been a very difficult year or two for gardaí dealing with those types of cases. Again, I pay tribute to them. It takes an enormous amount of teamwork and effort to respond to and deal with those types of crimes.

As I have mentioned, the number of gardaí in Meath has increased by 14%. I am not saying that is enough. We need to continue to increase those numbers. The only way we can do that is by making sure we have the numbers going through Templemore. That is an absolute priority. That number is going in the right direction as new recruits enter the college every 11 weeks.

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