Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Last Saturday evening in the town of Kincasslagh in County Donegal, which is probably best known throughout the country for being the home town of Daniel O'Donnell, over 200 local residents turned up for a public meeting. It was a meeting to voice their concerns about the ongoing and escalating anti-social behaviour and criminal activity occurring in the area. This activity culminated in a recent unprovoked petrol bomb attack on a car outside the home of an elderly lady and her daughter. Unfortunately, due to family commitments, I was unable to attend the meeting. However, I have spoken to many people from that area and I can tell the Minister that there is a real sense of fear, shock and concern in the area, particularly on the part of the elderly community. These are people who are genuinely frightened by the increase in crime and the lack of Garda presence in rural areas.

Nobody expects a garda to stand on every street corner to catch the culprits intent on pursuing a path of crime. Nevertheless, there is a growing fear that the Garda at current resource levels is not in a position to provide effective policing for rural areas. On the night of the petrol bombing, I am informed that it was two hours after the initial call that the Garda patrol car arrived on the scene of the attack. Meanwhile, we know that crime is on the increase. According to the latest CSO crime statistics, there was an 18.3% increase in burglaries in the northern region, which includes Donegal, in the year up to June 2012. Hardly a week goes by without my hearing about another attack on a home, business or community across County Donegal, either directly through my constituency office or through the media. In particular, older people feel increasingly vulnerable in their homes and I am sure this is not unique to Donegal. These people must be reassured that the gardaí are present in the community and that they can help protect them.

Instead of providing the necessary resources to tackle the issues effectively, this and the previous Government have in successive budgets depleted the resources of the Garda. They have stripped the resources bare to a point where the Garda cannot fulfil the demands of the community. This year, the Minister oversaw the closure of 39 Garda stations, three of which were in my county - Culdaff, Doochary and Dunkineely. They were all closed on the Minister's watch. There are reports that another 96 stations may be considered for closure. The Minister has already informed us that the draft policing plan for 2013 is likely to contain further proposals for rationalisation of Garda stations and districts. An example is the threatened removal of the Glenties district headquarters, which could see the redeployment of up to 30 to 40 full-time gardaí from west Donegal, further highlighting the concerns of the people in this area.

If the Minister was to put it into context, we know that crime is on the increase in these areas. One does not need reports; one only needs to live in the area to know it is happening, yet from 2008 to this year, Donegal saw a reduction of 52 Garda personnel. I know it was not done solely on the Minister's watch as Fianna Fáil oversaw most of it. The county has seen a reduction in Garda numbers from 488 in 2008 to 436 today. Unfortunately, that trajectory is continuing and we are at breaking point. It is not good enough that it takes two hours for Garda personnel in a patrol car to arrive in a rural area where a car has been petrol bombed by criminals in that area, putting the lives of the individuals inside the adjoining house in jeopardy. What assessment does the Minister and the Garda Commissioner make of rural areas and their policing needs when making decisions to close down stations and reduce Garda numbers in these areas?

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I heard what he had to say about the petrol bomb incident. I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that I cannot refer to the detail of a matter that is under investigation by An Garda Síochána in the House.

The Deputy will be aware that the allocation of resources by the Commissioner is constantly monitored in the context of crime trends, policing needs and other operational strategies in place on a district, divisional and regional level. On a daily basis, gardaí are involved in preventing and detecting crime and criminal activity. The House will be aware that as recently as this morning a man died from gunshot wounds in Golden in County Tipperary. While it is too early to speculate on the circumstances or motive behind this incident, it is yet another stark reminder of the issues being dealt with by members of the Garda Síochána.

Both the Government and the Garda are responding to the challenges in policing and in dealing with a very difficult economic situation. I will detail some of those responses. The House will be aware that despite budgetary constraints, I announced a substantial additional investment of €3 million this week in Garda transport for the purchase of new vehicles. It is anticipated that 170 vehicles will be delivered to the Commissioner and come on stream in December and January. They will be in addition to the over 200 vehicles which have been brought in to service since the beginning of 2011.

In addition to our 13,500 gardaí, which is a great deal more than we had even at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, we now have over 1,000 Garda reserves who assist the gardaí in their day to day work. Garda reserves are vital links to our communities and I commend them for their service. There are also over 2,000 civilian staff who provide vital technical, administrative and specialist support to front line gardaí. These include scenes of crime specialists such as photographers, analysts, IT specialists, etc. Compared with England and Wales or other smaller countries like Denmark, New Zealand and Finland, we have more police officers per head of population.

In particular, the implementation of the new Garda roster system ensures that resources are optimally deployed when and where they are required to every part of the community, both rural and urban. The same drive for efficiency is also what determined the Commissioner's decisions to close some Garda stations in 2012, as mentioned by the Deputy. I expect a further rationalisation of the Garda station and district network in the forthcoming policing plan. The objective at all times is to ensure that the most effective and efficient service is delivered across the country. While I fully understand the concern that communities may have about possible Garda station closures, I am convinced that in providing a modern, effective police force, our emphasis should not be on bricks and mortar. Up until the station closures which took place earlier this year, this State had a Garda station network that was mostly unchanged since 1922 and which took no account of modern transportation, communication and policing methods. We must focus on making the best possible use of our police resources so that gardaí are out on our streets and in our communities responding to crime and providing visible policing rather than waiting for occasional callers to a Garda station.

I am, of course, very conscious of the deep distress which burglaries and thefts can cause to the unfortunate victims of such crimes. The most recent comparative figures published by the CSO indicate that the incidence of burglary and theft in Donegal has, in fact, been less than in many other areas of the country. However, that is not to minimise the impact of such crimes on those affected by them, particularly the elderly and more vulnerable members of society, or the impact of a petrol bomb attack on any individual or family.

I welcome the fact that the Garda Commissioner has announced the introduction of a wide range of measures aimed at tackling gangs involved in burglaries. In May of this year, the Garda Commissioner launched the national "Garda Supporting Safer Communities Campaign". This important campaign highlights a range of key issues, in particular, burglary prevention by engaging with communities.

Operation Fiacla, which commenced in February last, is focused on identifying and targeting mobile gangs involved in burglaries around the country so as to disrupt their activities and bring them before the courts. Operation Fiacla is intelligence-driven and specific burglary initiatives have been implemented in each Garda region in support of this operation to target suspect offenders, disrupt their activities and secure their attendance before the courts. I am confident that Operation Fiacla is making an impact. Since its commencement in February up to 22 August last, over 1,700 persons have been arrested and almost 1,000 persons have been charged as part of the operation.

This clearly reflects the substantial efforts being made by the Garda to tackle the prolific offenders who are behind the growth in burglaries.

The Garda national model of community policing plays a key part in responding to crime by taking into account and responding to local conditions and needs. In this regard, the Garda continues to work closely with communities to enhance community safety in a wide range of local fora, including through partnership programmes such as Community Alert and Neighbourhood Watch, in addition to more formal structures such as joint policing committees.

I pay tribute to everyone in the Garda Síocháná for the commitment and professionalism they display in carrying out their duties. I assure all communities, including the one in Donegal referred to by the Deputy, that the Garda is efficiently carrying out its functions and that it will do everything possible to bring criminality to an end. However, the reality is that no matter how many members of the force there are, there will always be individuals within communities intent on criminality and targeting individuals for a variety of reasons. We cannot have a member of An Garda standing outside every house in every rural or urban community.

In the context of making reference to rural Garda stations, I draw to the Deputy's attention the fact that the main station closures occurred not in rural areas, but in Dublin. Whitehall and Harcourt Terrace Garda stations were both closed in the context of the consolidation and rationalisation of stations with a view to using resources as efficiently as possible. The next largest station to close was Dalkey Garda station, which is in the Tánaiste's constituency. It is a question of smart policing, using resources efficiently and ensuring the members of the force are not sitting unnecessarily at desks in Garda stations rather than being engaged in front line duties.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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I have a couple of points to make to the Minister. His last comments show that he fails to understand rural areas. It is not about the size of the station but about the presence and service it provides. Culdaff, Dunkineely and Doochary are wee villages and do not need a massive Garda station, but they need the service. The service was taken away from them by the Government.

The Minister said it is a question of smart policing. If people could see that the closures of the stations in question led to the presence of more gardaí on the street or a better service, they might be able to accept them. They do not see more, however. Therefore, let us look at the facts.

I have a very simple question for the Minister. I understand that this matter is not entirely under the Minister's watch but he should note that 52 gardaí were taken away from Donegal over the past four years, and three stations have been closed down. Some 200 people turned up at a public meeting in this regard on Saturday evening. The Minister knows as well as I do that it is very difficult to get people to attend public meetings on different issues, yet 200 people in a small rural community decided this issue was important enough to warrant their turning up. The people affected are respected, upstanding members of the community whose car, which was parked outside their house, was petrol-bombed. They did not provoke anybody and the community has rallied around them. The community is asking a simple question, perhaps through me. What does the Minister have to say to the community in Kincasslagh to reassure it that it will be in a better position tomorrow than it was yesterday or the day before? What decisions can the Minister make to ensure the Garda is resourced as much as possible so it can respond to the needs of that community?

I said in my opening statement that we do not expect a garda at every street corner. I appreciate the work of the Garda, be it in rural or urban areas, but I understand from it and others that it is under-resourced and working against tremendous odds because it is not getting the support of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy well knows, it is nonsense for the purpose of rhetoric to suggest the Garda is not getting support. It has my full support and that of the Government. However, we must live in a world of reality, from which the Deputy is semi-detached. This year, the State requires to borrow €16 billion simply to maintain services. We entered into government under the shadow of an EU-IMF-ECB agreement that requires us to reduce public expenditure. We entered government under the shadow of an agreement that required us to reduce the number of members in the Garda force, in addition to a broad range of other reductions.

When we came into government, we had the largest number of members in the force in the history of the State. It was even greater than the number in the force during the Troubles. The number has been reduced from approximately 14,500 to 13,500 by retirements. The force is still substantially greater in number than it was during the course of the Troubles. There are substantially more policemen and policewomen in Ireland per head than in most other European countries. Therefore, it is not a question of bricks and mortar; it is about smart policing and doing what is necessary without delimiting the manner in which the Garda operates and its effectiveness.

The Deputy is peddling an untruth. Despite the closure of 39 Garda stations, there has been, according to the statistics up to the end of June 2012, a reduction in crime across every category in the State in the past 12 months, except in the area of burglary and in the area of theft, in respect of which there was a very small increase. In the area of burglary, Operation Fiacla is having a profound impact. Many of those who are responsible for the increase in burglaries over the past 18 months will find themselves, in the coming weeks and months, before the courts as a result of charges brought as a consequence of that operation.

I assure all rural communities that the Garda has the Government's full support. It will be resourced as best we can properly resource it in the difficult financial circumstances that exist in the State. I urge all rural communities to participate in Community Alert schemes and I ask citizens to provide their own security in their homes by way of burglar alarms and to be careful to ensure they do not do anything that sets them out as possible victims of some of the lawless individuals who are still intent on crime. Let the Deputy not peddle the myth that the Garda has anything but my absolute support and that of the Government in the work it is doing.