Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have the rural safety plan up to 2024. There is a lot to go on and there is more to go on. We have achieved a lot and we need to achieve a lot more.

I know Ballaghaderreen well. My wife is from Sligo but Ballaghaderreen is her local town, so I know it only too well.

The Deputy may be interested to know that this week a focused Garda operation took place targeting on organised criminal group in connection with widespread burglaries in Mayo, Roscommon, Longford, Westmeath and Sligo. An investigation team was established within Sligo-Leitrim, Galway and the Mayo-Roscommon-Longford divisions to identify members of this organised criminal group and associate them to particular burglaries. Three arrests were subsequently made in the Dublin region this week and a number of vehicles were seized and technically examined. A quantity of cash, designer items and a Rolex watch, suspected to be the proceeds of crime, were also seized.

I fully agree that there needs to be a continued focus on the safety of people. Rural and urban areas have different characteristics and needs. People need to feel safe. We need to make sure we have an adequate number of gardaí. We have achieved a lot in terms of the budget for An Garda Síochána, which is the highest ever, but we need to make much more progress. I am certainly up for that challenge if the public decide to put me and my party back in Dáil Éireann.

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