Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this. I will feed back to the Minister's office what the Deputy raised about transfers. She makes a very good point. Gardaí come to us and say similar. The Minister has outlined that recruitment to An Garda Síochána is gathering momentum. The Deputy is right that Garda visibility is crucial to ensuring people are safe and feel safe in their local communities; so too are concerted efforts to tackle crimes like burglary. The Deputy spoke of a spate of burglaries in her area. Burglaries can be a traumatic and invasive experience that can impact on the sense of security people feel in their own homes, especially older people. The Deputy will be aware of Operation Thor, which tackles burglary and actively targets organised crime gangs and repeat offenders through co-ordinated crime prevention and enforcement activity based on intelligence and the latest burglary trends. I am informed that since Operation Thor was established in 2015, there has been a 75% reduction in residential burglaries nationwide.

The Deputy joined me in paying tribute to An Garda Síochána. She was clear that she was not offering a criticism of the gardaí. The Garda crime prevention advice under Operation Thor is highlighted through public information campaigns and by Garda prevention officers, including the Lock Up Light Up campaign. I will feed back the issues the Deputy raised in her area to the Minister's Department.

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