Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the news that the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act will be commenced in the coming days. Following that, I welcome the news that the secondary legislation required for these regulations will also be enacted shortly thereafter. These regulations cannot come soon enough. The establishment of the chairs and the committees are sorely needed in counties like Louth. Without going into a history lesson on crime in County Louth, to say that we, as a Border county, have had a unique relationship with crime is no mystery to anyone. In recent decades, however, we have seen a shift in the manner of crime being committed within the county. We have seen gangland and rural crime, not to mention drug crime within the county devastating communities and trying to tear them apart. The community spirit in the county is very strong, however. Places and communities like the Redeemer Family Resource Centre and Moneymore in Drogheda, despite the challenges they have faced in recent decades, have a strong spirit and are still standing strong. I visisted Moneymore in Drogheda this morning where staff are in the process of fund-raising for a new community centre. They are openly there not just to revive and face the challenges of their own community but also to welcome in the other people of Drogheda and all the communities in the hinterland. We need to be supporting communities like these as they face these challenges. Towns like Drogheda, as the mayor of Drogheda, Paddy McQuillan, has urged me again and again, need support. How do we get that collaboration? It is through the key stakeholders and the leaders of the community, along with An Garda Síochána. This has been very effective. We have seen that with the Drogheda implementation board, which received investment of €16 million. It has brought about changes, investment in youth diversion programmes, extra policing and also key, crucial programmes for community groups. The establishment of the new local community safety partnerships, LCSPs, is not only crucial to towns like Drogheda and Dundalk, but also to Ardee and Dunleer in their hinterlands, as well as the smaller villages like Castlebellingham, Tallanstown and Louth. I urge for these regulations to come fast and furious.

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