Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. In the short time remaining, I want to refer to two projects in Limerick, on both of which I commend the Garda. One was an operation around scramblers, which took place on 24 and 25 October, with 46 vehicles seized. I encourage more of that to be done as scramblers have been a nightmare for people in Limerick for the past number of years. The situation had been allowed to get out of hand. I hope the relevant legislation will be robust and that other Garda authorities will do the same as was done in Limerick.

The other project is a Garda operation that will take place across Limerick city. I understand two additional gardaí will walk around the core city centre area targeting aggressive begging and, in particular, thefts in shops. There was a lack of such visibility for many years. I understand that is already having a significant impact on the community. After a difficult year for us all, I want to put on record that the gardaí in Limerick, a lot of whom I know well, are doing the best job they can with the resources they have.

A concern I wish to flag, however, is that at the most recent meeting of the JPC, the chief superintendent confirmed that he is short 30 staff for the Limerick area. I ask the Minister to look into that matter.

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