Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Last week, I held a public meeting in Navan on the issue of crime and antisocial behaviour. It was a very well-attended meeting. There was a full house with only standing room available. I have been the chair of the Safer Meath Campaign for the past five years and I am absolutely shocked at what I heard at that meeting. Women who work in shops in the towns said they were being threatened with rape and sexual assault if they went to the Garda to report the thefts and crimes happening in their shops. Many of them are being dropped off at the shops simply because they do not feel safe walking to those shops early in the morning. The same applies in the evening when they are picked up. Windows of pubs are being smashed in the middle of Sunday afternoons. Drugs are being sold openly and taken on the streets and town squares.

One of the scariest things I noticed at the meeting was that the majority of people who were the victims of crimes in County Meath over the period in question said they did not have the confidence to go to the Garda in the first place or that if the Garda knew about the crime, they did not have the confidence to prosecute, stand in a courtroom and give evidence against the people who were doing the damage to them. I have never heard such a pervasive level of fear among citizens in Meath. People feel they are unable in any way to tackle the criminals who are coming against them, as such. Attendees at the meeting felt that a cohort of these criminals simply feel they have immunity from prosecution. These offenders know they are never going to see a custodial sentence. Many of them feel they have immunity even when attacking gardaí because they feel they will never see a custodial sentence. Some people with multiple convictions, perhaps 50, 60 or 70 in total, are doing untold damage. That very small cohort is doing untold damage in the county.

It is clear that we have reached and passed a dangerous tipping point in respect of crime and antisocial behaviour in this country. Under this Government, this country is becoming a more violent and dangerous place. That is not hyperbole because the facts speak to it. Instances of rape have doubled in the past 15 years. Sexual assaults have doubled in the past ten years. The murder rate is soaring. It has doubled since last year. It is an incredible situation and people in many towns and villages are very fearful at the moment.

This is not happening by accident. We have one of the smallest police forcesper capitain the European Union. The Minister's county has the lowest Garda force per capitain the whole of the State. It is half the average number of gardaí per capita. Every year that Deputy McEntee has been the Minister for Justice, the number of gardaí in this State has fallen. That is a serious record for any Minister for Justice to hold. Hundreds of gardaí are attacked with impunity every year. Gardaí are in fear and terrified, as are their families, because of the work they are doing. Garda welfare is a key element of what is wrong and what is happening in this scenario.

In addition, hundreds of gardaí are resigning or retiring every year. The number of people applying to the Garda College in Templemore has collapsed. There has also been a collapse in morale. I honestly believe this Government has been distracted from this key bread-and-butter issue over the past year. It has been distracted by the culture wars.

I urge the Minister to focus on this issue and ensure that gardaí have proper terms, conditions and pay and are protected and that there is a threat of a custodial sentence for criminals if they injure gardaí in the future. We need to have the backs of gardaí if they are to have the backs of citizens in our towns and villages.

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