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

I thank the Deputy. It is important to say that work is ongoing but I appreciate that more needs to be done. If you look at the activity of An Garda Síochána - obviously there is a limited amount of information that can be provided - so far this year, between January and May, drugs valued in excess of €12 million were seized in that region. There were 106 seizures of firearms and ammunition. That is a high number, so it is in itself quite frightening that number of seizures has taken place. Yet, it shows that An Garda Síochána is active, engaged, on the ground and trying to do what it can. As I have outlined, funding has been provided for three different youth diversion projects.

The Minister of State has been developing, progressing, expanding and securing significant additional funding for the youth diversion programmes to make sure we do not just have them in every area but the areas that need more targeted intervention, in particular focusing on younger people. Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more younger people getting involved in crime and this type of, one cannot even call it, antisocial behaviour; it is criminal activity. We need to make sure we get to the root cause, which is where the partnership will be important. In the interim, I will do everything I can to get more gardaí into every area possible. I have no doubt, with the challenges the Deputy raised, that come the next Templemore graduation, there will be more gardaí in the area.

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