Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

A key public meeting on the issue of crime and antisocial behaviour will take place in Navan next Monday. The Minister for Justice has been invited but has not responded yet. Throughout the summer, citizens and communities have been shocked by the increase in violent, unprovoked attacks on our streets. Citizens are not just in fear at night time but often in the middle of the day in certain towns. Restaurants are closing earlier, children are being mugged on the way home from school, lanes off main streets are no-go areas because of drinking and drug taking, sexual assault and rape have doubled in the past ten years in this State and every year that Deputy Helen McEntee has been Minister for Justice the number of gardaí has fallen. Every year we have a situation where attacks on gardaí are increasing. Hundreds of gardaí are retiring and resigning annually. We have one of the lowest numbers of police per capitain the whole EU. Morale is on the floor and recruitment to Templemore has collapsed. Why is the Government soft on crime?

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