Dáil debates
Wednesday, 22 March 2006
Adjournment Debate.
Crime Levels.
9:00 pm
Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Crime figures in County Louth are up significantly since 2000. For instance, last year in the county of Louth, of the 841 burglaries, only 60 were detected. I express my deep concern about the rising crime levels in the Drogheda, Ardee and Dundalk areas since 2000. The figures speak for themselves. Despite the best efforts of the Garda, the trend in crime is up significantly and we urgently need more gardaà on the beat to deter violent and ruthless criminals in our midst.
A recent reply sent to me by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform revealed that Drogheda headline crime is up a massive 62% since 2000, while the Garda headline crime detection rate in Drogheda is down significantly from 34% to 24%. The Garda in County Louth is seriously under-resourced and Garda overtime rates in Drogheda and Dundalk have been cut by a massive â¬163,000 since 2000. In Dundalk, headline crime is up 25% while the detection rate is down from 34% in 2000 to 20% last year.
The Government clearly lacks the will to put thugs behind bars and is losing the battle against serious crime. There are no separate Garda crime figures available for Ardee, which is must change. Many citizens have expressed serious concerns to me about the crime levels in the Ardee area and in the interests of transparency and openness, the way we collect the data must be adjusted to ensure Ardee is entered separately in its own right.
The picture that emerges from these facts is one of appalling Government neglect and sheer ministerial arrogance, while the fall in the detection rate clearly shows the urgent need for more gardaÃ. I will give the Minister of State some examples. In 2005, the last year for which figures are available, despite the best efforts of the Garda, of 1,313 thefts, only 325 were detected. That means 988 thefts remain undetected in Louth today. Of the 52 sexual offences committed last year, only 14 were detected. That means 38 of those crimes are undetected. Of the 71 arson offences, only five have been detected. Of the 841 burglaries, only 60 have been detected, which is a detection rate of 7%. Of the 34 robberies, only three have been detected, which is a detection rate of 8.8%. One homicide remains undetected.
I stress that I have the greatest respect for the hard work, commitment and professionalism of the Garda and its efforts to stem the rising tide of crime and anti-social behaviour in my county, but their efforts will only be successful if the Government gives them the resources they need to win this war against crime.
Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)
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I thank Deputy O'Dowd for raising this matter. I am speaking on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who, unfortunately, is unable to be present. I assure the Deputy that the Minister and I share his concerns about crime in Drogheda, Ardee and Dundalk.
Before commenting on the matter identified by the Deputy, it is helpful to put the issue of crime into perspective. The overall level of headline crime in 2005 is lower than that for 2003 by 1.6% and for 2002 by 4.4%. Furthermore, in 1995, with a population of almost 3.6 million, there were 29 crimes per 1,000 of the population while in 2005, with a population of over 4.1 million, there were 24.6 crimes per 1,000 of the population. However, the Minister has expressed his disappointment that there was an overall increase of 2.78% in headline crime in 2005 and he does not downplay his concerns in that regard.
The Minister is pleased to see that the Garda Policing Plan 2006, under the heading "Policy Reviews 2006", includes a commitment to assessing causes of the rise in crimes of burglary in 2005. This work has commenced with a view to reversing the current upward trend and identifying strategies to target this significant issue. It is intended to mount special operations in particular problem areas. The Minister is also pleased to note that the Garda manpower in Drogheda, Dundalk and Ardee Garda stations has increased by 15%, 17% and 11%, respectively, in the period 1997 to date. The Minister also understands that a review of the opening hours in Ardee Garda station has resulted in an increased Garda presence in the town. In addition, it should be pointed out that the Garda resources of the areas the Deputy has referred to are further augmented by a number of Garda national units such as the Garda National Immigration Bureau, GNIB, the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, NBCI, and other specialised units.
The timescale for achieving the target strength of 14,000 members of the Garda SÃochána, in line with the commitment in An Agreed Programme for Government, remains as when the Minister announced the Government approval in October 2004. The phased increase in the strength of the Garda SÃochána to 14,000 will lead to a combined strength, of attested gardaà and recruits in training, of 14,000 by the end of this year. This project is fully on target and will be achieved. As part of the accelerated recruitment campaign to facilitate this record expansion, 1,125 Garda recruits were inducted to the Garda College during 2005. The college will induct a further 1,100 recruits this year and again in 2007. The first incremental increase of newly attested gardaà under the programme of accelerated recruitment took place on 15 March 2006. The Minister has repeatedly promised that the additional gardaà will not be put on administrative duties but will be put directly into frontline, operational, high-visibility policing.
The Minister is also very pleased that the Garda SÃochána is now better resourced than at any time in its history. The funding for the Garda SÃochána which the Minister secured in the Estimates for 2006 is a historical high of over â¬1.29 billion, compared with just â¬600 million in 1997. The provision for Garda overtime in 2006 will be â¬83.5 million, an increase of â¬23 million on the allocation for last year. This increase will greatly aid the planned deployment of a visible policing service in a flexible, effective and targeted response to criminal activity and crime prevention. The â¬83.5 million in overtime will yield 2.725 million extra hours of policing by uniformed and special units throughout the State.
Strong provisions are in place to combat anti-social and unlawful behaviour. The primary basis for the law regarding public order offences is the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, which modernised the law in this regard. Furthermore, because of the Minister's concerns about the abuse of alcohol and its contribution to public order offending and broader social problems, he brought forward tough new provisions to deal with alcohol abuse and its effect on public order in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003. The Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 2003 provides the Garda SÃochána with additional powers to deal with late night street violence and anti-social conduct attributable to excessive drinking.
As the Deputy will be aware, the Minister recently circulated his proposed Committee Stage amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill 2004. Included in these amendments is a provision to allow for the introduction of anti-social behaviour orders. The Minister's proposal will allow the Garda to apply to the courts by way of civil procedure for an anti-social behaviour order which will prohibit the person who is the subject of the order from behaving in an anti-social way. The orders will be civil orders and the question of an offence will arise only if the person in question willfully defies the order and continues to engage in the anti-social behaviour which is the subject of the order.
I want to address the particular issues raised by the Deputy. Any discussion regarding crime trends in the areas mentioned by the Deputy must take account of the increase in their populations. For example, the population of Drogheda increased by 15.7% between the 1996 census and the last census in 2002. I have no doubt this increase will continue in Drogheda and the other towns and will be reflected even further in the forthcoming census.
The Minister is informed by the Garda authorities that the local Garda management in Drogheda district has been targeting burglaries in housing estates with covert and overt foot patrols to ensure a visible Garda presence in the areas concerned. The Minister is further informed that gardaà from Ardee and Drogheda districts participate in Operation Apron, which is a regional initiative to target criminals travelling through the region and reduce incidents of crime within the region. The Minister is advised that criminal activity in Dundalk is being targeted by a number of proactive operations to identify the main suspects and their associates. Intelligence indicates that a number of crimes are being committed by criminals from outside the jurisdiction. The Garda authorities liaise closely with the Police Service of Northern Ireland in identifying those suspected of involvement in such criminal activity from both sides of the Border.
The Minister wishes to assure the Deputy that he and the Garda authorities in the areas mentioned are committed to reducing crime by the effective use of Garda resources and will continue to target criminal behaviour with effective policing.