Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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50. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality how she proposes to deal with crime levels, particularly in rural areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42647/15]

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Given the fact that we have a large dispersed rural population outside the large towns and cities, what plans does the Minister have to tackle the ongoing issue of rural crime? I ask this question in the light of the publication of the CSO crime statistics which we are now getting independently verified and on a quarterly basis and also against the backdrop of a number of high profile incidents which have been reported in the news, for example, the conviction of the gang in Clonmel recently and the death of a constituent of mine, Mr. John O'Donoghue, during a burglary on his own property in Doon, County Limerick.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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One of the most significant initiatives taken is finishing the moratorium on Garda recruitment. The Deputy will have seen the advertisement this week for 600 new gardaí who will be recruited early next year. We have already received expressions of interest from thousands of people. I am looking forward to the initiative going ahead. It is very important that the moratorium on recruitment to the Garda training college in Templemore has ended. The Taoiseach and the Government have committed to ongoing continuous recruitment.

In terms of the Government's strategy to tackle this issue, we are getting tougher on serious and repeat offenders. Investing in the capacity of An Garda Síochána to enforce the law effectively is critical. The Deputy saw the launch yesterday of the JARC, the joint agency response to crime. The Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Bill is before the House and provides tougher measures to target repeat burglary offenders. A further initiative has been taken by the Probation Service, the Irish Prison Service and An Garda Síochána.

Significant new resources in manpower, vehicles and surveillance activities were announced on budget day and the capital plan for the period 2016 to 2021. As we now have a more stable economy and the public finances are in better shape, we can begin to invest again and have done so in the past two years. There is a budget of €1.1 billion for An Garda Síochána which was increased last year for the first time in several years. All of this enhances capacity.

Operation Thor is also critical. Its five strands include intensive community involvement by way of Muintir na Tíre text alerts and whole-of-community engagement in responding to the challenging issues communities face.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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It is welcome that the Minister has announced a recruitment campaign to commence next year and that she has taken on board something I have raised on a number of occasions, namely, that the Garda Reserve should be looked at as a separate entry stream into the main Garda force. Many of those involved in the Garda Reserve will welcome this and will be glad to see some progression.

I mentioned the unfortunate passing of a man in Doon in my constituency, Mr. John O'Donoghue. With the Minister's colleague and a number of other public representatives, I attended the launch in Doon yesterday of the text alert scheme. Senior Garda personnel from the Limerick division were present. The message coming back to them was that people wanted to see more gardaí based in the community and backed up by resources. Everybody in this House subscribes to that view.

We know that there are about 1,500 gardaí who are eligible to retire today or any time soon and that the Minister is recruiting up to 600. It is my party's position that we would like to see the force being brought back up to a figure of 14,000 in the lifetime of the next Government. What is the Minister's view on that proposal? Will a vigorous recruitment campaign be undertaken for the 1,100 members of the Garda Reserve?

There are many people who are ready, willing and able to partake and give of their service to their own communities to address concerns like those we heard in Doon last night.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I have doubled the funding for the text alert scheme and I welcome the huge voluntary effort that is going into developing it. A figure of 14,000 should be arrived at in the lifetime of the next Government. Clearly, there is always a number of potential retirements in any given year but more people are being recruited than are retiring.

When one looks at crime trends and recorded crime figures from the CSO for quarter 2 of 2015, it is important to note that homicide offences are down by 35%; robbery, extortion and hijacking offences are down by 8%; and public order offences and other social code offences are down by 4%. I am glad to say that weapons and explosives offences are down by 3%. The decrease in controlled drug offences is not as great but it is a decrease of 1%.

We need to look at the successes of An Garda Síochána as well as the areas that are challenging. It is very important that we pay tribute to the work we hear about on a daily basis and that we now see being undertaken through Operation Thor where very effective policing is being carried out in the country. Sometimes the amount of arrests made by An Garda Síochána and the huge successes it is having in respect of some very serious crimes can be underestimated.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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At the launch of Doon Community Alert in Limerick last night, there was also a lot of discussion about the fact that Doon Garda station had been closed as part of the closure of 139 Garda stations. Unfortunately, the Minister and I will not agree about the Government's policy of closing Garda stations and we have debated this issue on many occasions in this House and beyond. I will raise an issue I have raised previously. Given that An Garda Síochána was to have carried out a review after the closure of Garda stations, a review that has not taken place, does the Minister not consider it would be proper and appropriate for the Garda Síochána Inspectorate to examine the remaining Garda stations that have not been sold into private ownership to discover the impact of the closure of these stations on the communities like Doon that now find themselves without a Garda station? This issue was raised last night. Will the Minister agree to ask the Garda Síochána Inspectorate to do this?

Text alert is a huge success and it was great to see the launch last night in Doon. Does the Minister not think we should have a national directorate with the funding to co-ordinate organisations like Muintir na Tíre; the IFA, which now has a dedicated crime prevention officer; and the various community and text alert groups throughout the country to give them national co-ordination?

Could the Minister comment on a Bill I published last week? It would require the National Roads Authority, which is now known as Transport Ireland, to put cameras on exits and entries to motorways as an added facet in protecting communities from roving gangs who are using the motorway network.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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There are four questions here so I will try to deal with each of them if the Leas-Cheann Comhairle allows it. In respect of Garda station closures, let me make the point that I understand the sense of security people get from having a Garda station in their area. Let us look at the crime figures. Garda analysts have done this work. A total of 41 Garda stations were closed in the west and the figures for the western region show a 8% reduction in burglaries. I am not correlating one with the other. I am just saying that this is a fact. Modern crime has a lot of different elements. Clearly, it involves local criminals and local knowledge is very important. However, very often, mobile gangs operate as well and they need to be dealt with through a different type of modern policing - one that is informed by number plate recognition, which is very important. The gardaí would tell me that it is more important than the information they would get immediately from CCTV on the motorways. This issue is being examined to see whether there are locations where it would be helpful to have extra CCTV. The vehicles that are coming on stream have number plate recognition and if the Deputy speaks to his local gardaí, I am sure they will tell him that it is hugely important in terms of dealing with criminal activity.

In respect of national co-ordination of the text alert scheme, I have doubled the funding to Muintir na Tíre this year and it is reverting to me in respect of how it believes this extra money should be used.

I do take the Deputy's point, which is important, that support for the text alert schemes by way of national coordination is important and is probably one of the routes we need to go to develop the schemes and support those involved. Gardaí are doing excellent work on that.