Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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55. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the additional resources which will be made available to An Garda Síochána in County Clare under Operation Thor; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42403/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Operation Thor is a multi-strand national operation which builds on previous and current Garda operations to tackle crime, particularly burglaries. It builds on the substantial investment, restarted by the Government, in recruiting new gardaí and vehicles. All of these resources are available to the Garda Commissioner to delegate, as she sees appropriate.

This year the Clare division has been allocated ten newly attested gardaí and extra vehicles. The 2016 budget allocation of €1.5 billion for An Garda Síochána includes over €67 million in additional funding which will allow the recruitment of 600 new gardaí next year, on top of the 550 recruited since the Government reopened the Garda College in 2014. It will also provide additional funding for special operations such as Operation Thor. This builds on the high level of investment of €34 million we have seen already. In this context, the Deputy will appreciate that it is not possible to detail the additional resources available in any one county, although information is available on the extra gardaí locally. Extra gardaí have been allocated to every division following the new recruitment drive. This week another 600 recruit places have been advertised, in which there is already significant interest. This will allow for further operations across the country. Operation Thor involves disrupting mobile gangs across the country and we are already seeing some successes under it. I will have a report shortly on its first month in operation.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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It is clear that Operation Thor is nothing but window-dressing.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Nonsense.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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In County Clare alone since 2011 there has been a 6% increase in the number of burglaries. From 2011 to the end of June 2015, there was a 90% increase in the numbers of rapes and sexual assaults, with a 10% increase in the number of theft and related offences. It is clear that the Government has taken four years to wake up to the seriousness of the crime wave sweeping across rural areas. Now that it has come to the calling of a general election, the Minister is responding with no real specifics and no recognition of the impact this crime wave has had on rural communities. She needs to have specifics and set out in a clear and concise way how the moneys the Government has set aside will be spent in a way that will ensure people will start to have confidence again in the Garda's capacity to ensure these crimes will not be acceptable. Will she provide appropriate resources for An Garda Síochána?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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It was the previous Fianna Fáil Government which stopped investment in An Garda Síochána.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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For three years the Government has presided over the closure of Garda stations.

Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Has the Deputy forgotten already about the previous Fianna Fáil Government?

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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He has amnesia.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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It was because of the economic crisis the Fianna Fáil Government left us that it was not possible to have the investment which should have been happening in the past five years. The Government has, however, started to invest again in recruitment and support vehicles.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister has no specifics and no strategy.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The strategy is clear.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, it is clear - close Garda stations.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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It is articulated under Operation Thor which has five strands, all of which are being implemented. It includes additional high visibility patrols which people will have seen in operation across the country.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, while the stations are closed.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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There is no correlation between station closures and increases in the numbers of burglaries. Burglary hot spots have been identified. There has been an increased use of checkpoints to tackle the criminal gangs using the national road network.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The lads are using the back roads.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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There are the new high powered vehicles. The last year Fianna Fáil was in power it bought 45 Garda vehicles. This year alone 650 vehicles have been invested in.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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How many did the Minister buy last year?

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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How many did Fianna Fáil buy?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy needs to face up to the fact that he Government stopped investment in An Garda Síochána.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister needs to face up to the fact that she did not decide to reinvest in the force until we were on election footing.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Government has restarted investment and this is what will keep communities safe. We are doubling the investment in Muintir na Tíre for the text alert scheme.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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That will sort it out.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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We are recruiting new gardaí with advertisements in the newspapers this week for 600 new places. If one wants to tackle crime and keep communities safe, one has to invest in front-line policing, as the Government is doing.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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One has to reopen stations.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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One has to give the Garda the resources it needs to deal with mobile gangs. One also has to bring forward strong legislation, which we are doing with the burglary Bill, and to ensure criminals will find it more difficult to get bail and will serve consecutive, rather than concurrent, sentences. These are the initiatives we are taking. The previous Fianna Fáil Government stopped investment

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is letting them out the back door as they are going in the front door of the prison. This is a sham.