Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The first matter is from Deputy Thomas Byrne. Is the Minister of State, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan taking this matter?

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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Yes.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Is the Minister for Justice and Equality coming into the Chamber to deal with this?

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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No, I am taking the matter on his behalf.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State with responsibility for sport is going to talk about a really serious issue of crime in my constituency. That is a joke and the joke is on the Government. This is outrageous.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Deputy wish to proceed with it?

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, I want to proceed with it but I think it is outrageous that the Minister of State with responsibility for sport-----

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Neither the Ceann Comhairle nor the Leas-Cheann Comhairle has any influence-----

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to see the Minister for Justice and Equality in the Chamber today.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I could move it back to fourth position but I do not think the situation is going to change.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I do not know what responsibility Deputy O'Donovan has - maybe it is not for sport - but his is not the Ministry I want.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Deputy want us to deal with it now or-----

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I want to take it because the issue is too serious for my constituency-----

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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-----does he want the Ceann Comhairle to request that it be taken tomorrow, without a guarantee?

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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No, because the issues are too serious and need to be put on the Dáil record. Someone needs to listen to my constituents on this matter.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Fine. Deputy Thomas Byrne has four minutes.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I hope the Minister for Justice and Equality is listening to this because it is deeply disrespectful-----

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The clock is ticking now.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I know, we are six seconds into the slot but it is deeply disrespectful for the Minister for Justice and Equality not to come in when there is a serious issue of crime and criminality in my constituency which is not being addressed with the proper resources for An Garda Síochána.

I have tabled this particular Topical Issue with regard to Stamullen and Gormanston where there has been a wave of crime and anti-social behaviour in the last number of weeks, if not years, as well as an increase in burglaries. This has not been addressed by increasing the Garda presence in the area. Instead, we have seen an absolute savaging of Garda resources, with gardaí on the beat simply unable to deal with the crime with which they are expected to deal. Somebody has to listen. The Ashbourne Garda district may be a relatively new district with much of its population having moved there over the last ten to 20 years but it deserves the same policing response and resources as every other part of the country. It simply does not have that and as a result, the levels of burglary and anti-social behaviour are running amok. It is fair to say that the public does not have confidence in Garda response times or in the Garda presence in the area and as a resident of the Ashbourne Garda district, I share a lot of their concerns. I have no difficulty in expressing confidence in the ability of gardaí to investigate crimes and indeed, they seem to have had some success in recent days. However, I have a severe lack of confidence, as do my constituents, in terms of the Garda presence on the ground throughout the district, but specifically in Stamullen and Gormanston.

In 2016, 321 burglaries were recorded in the Ashbourne Garda district while in the entire county of Westmeath only 241 were recorded. The number of gardaí in the Ashbourne Garda district is around 100. The number in the entire county of Meath is 321 but there are 241 gardaí in Westmeath. There is a higher crime rate, in terms of burglaries, in the Asbourne Garda district compared to the whole of County Westmeath but the district has around one third of the gardaí deployed in that county. That is outrageous, unsustainable and it cannot go on. It is completely wrong. I hope that the Minister for Justice and Equality, An Garda Síochána and the forum on the future of policing are all listening because this is wrong. It is wrong that there is not equality for my constituents who are citizens of this republic. They do not have the same Garda service that many other counties can take for granted. It is simply wrong, unsustainable and is not conducive to the public good or the betterment of civic society. This must change. The people have been complaining about it for long enough. The people of Stamullen, Gormanston, Duleek, east Meath, the fringes of Drogheda, Dunboyne, Dunshaughlin, Ratoath, Ashbourne and everywhere in between are sick of what is going on. Gardaí simply cannot do the job they are being asked to do because there are not enough of them.

We have another specific problem in that Garda stations in Drogheda, Balbriggan, Maynooth, Kilcock and Kingscourt which are adjacent to this particular Garda district cannot serve it. That is something that must change because we are completely isolated and do not have enough resources.

It cannot go on and gardaí should not allow this situation to continue. The public simply will not put up with it. I am not encouraging any form of protests in this regard but constituents have suggested that people would protest at Garda stations - that is how bad it has become. These are honourable, decent citizens who rightly feel they deserve a proper policing service and a proper number of gardaí.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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At the outset, I want to apologise to the House on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, who, unfortunately, cannot be here today. He has asked me to take this issue on his behalf. The Minister would like to offer his sympathies to the two teenagers who were attacked on the road leading to Gormanston railway station on Sunday evening. He asks anyone who can be of assistance to An Garda Síochána in regard to this deplorable attack to contact gardaí immediately, and I am sure the House joins him in that request.

The Minister has been informed that gardaí from Laytown Garda station responded to this incident and were assisted by members of An Garda Síochána from Balbriggan and Ashbourne Garda stations, along with two mobile units from the regional armed support unit. The Minister is advised that, with assistance from the public, An Garda Síochána is making significant progress with its investigations into this matter. The Minister has been informed by the Garda authorities that a number of incidents, including robberies of mobile phones, assaults, thefts and general anti-social behaviour, have recently occurred in the Stamullen and Gormanston areas. Local Garda management has established an incident room in Laytown and all these incidents are being fully investigated. In addition, extra patrols under Operation Thor are being provided in the Stamullen and Gormanston areas to assist local gardaí.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda divisions, and the Minister has no direct role in day-to-day matters. The Minister wants to assure the Deputy and the House that the Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. To make this a reality, the Government has in place a plan to achieve an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021, comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 reserve members and 4,000 civilians.

The Minister is informed by the Commissioner that the Garda strength of the Meath division, on 30 September 2017, the latest date for which figures are readily available, was 293. There are also 16 Garda reserves and 29 civilians attached to the division. He is further informed by the Commissioner that, since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, close to 1,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, 46 of whom have been assigned to the Meath division. In addition, another 200 trainee gardaí are scheduled to attest later this year, which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, increase to 13,500 by the end of the year, an increase of 500 since the end of 2016.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment, which was introduced in 2010, resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources to deploy increasing numbers of gardaí across every Garda division, including the Meath division, in the coming years. The Deputy asked that these significant issues, about which he is rightly concerned, would be brought to the attention of the Minister and I assure him that will be done.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I do not accept this answer. I do not accept it is correct to go back to 2010 to place the blame for all the problems. I am raising a problem, not just in regard to Garda numbers at a national level, which, thankfully, are increasing under the confidence and supply agreement, but in regard to the disparity in Garda resources between different parts of the country. This is outrageous and is not accepted by the citizenry of this country, certainly not by my constituents. There are a lot more burglaries in my area and a lot fewer gardaí than in a neighbouring county, when there does not seem to be any objective justification for this. Westmeath is not a Border county and there are no special Garda units at national level that are based there, or none I am aware of. This is wrong. Criminals are aware of this. There is no point covering it up - they know this. They know we have an excellent motorway network. There are four motorways throughout this Garda district - the M1 at Stamullen and Gormanston, the M2, the M3 and the M4, which goes through parts of the constituency or is adjacent to it. These are providing easy access in and out in regard to burglaries and, indeed, anti-social behaviour, as we have seen in recent weeks.

I agree with the Minister of State on the need to encourage everybody to give any information they have to An Garda Síochána. I wish An Garda Síochána all the very best with its investigations. However, it is my contention that it simply does not have enough men and women on the ground to do the job the State expects it to do. This will have to be taken seriously. It is a threat to good order and governance in this country that there is this sort of disparity. I know senior gardaí at a local level are shouting about this internally but it is not being listened to. It is about time someone listened and said that while this is a new area, and while these are not towns which traditionally had a huge population, they do now and they need to be recognised as such.

The crime levels which are publicly available from the Central Statistics Office make the case that I am making. The Minister of State said the number of gardaí in the Meath division is 293. My figure from a few weeks ago is 295 so have we lost two gardaí, even in the last few weeks. It is heartbreaking and frustrating to me and my constituents.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I am sure the Deputy would acknowledge that the resumption of recruitment and the increased numbers in An Garda Síochána predated the confidence and supply agreement and was part of the work of the last Government, which took on board that the Garda was deprived of the resources that are needed to provide an effective police force across the country. While there are historic reasons for that, the last Government and this one did a lot in this regard, which needs to be acknowledged, aside from the supply and confidence agreement.

The Minister wishes to inform the Deputy and the House that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities, and that the needs of all divisions, including Meath, are taken into consideration in the allocation of Garda resources. In budget 2018 the Government will support the continuation of the high level of investment in An Garda Síochána in recent years and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track.

In addition, the Government's plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 is complemented by substantial investment in resources across An Garda Síochána, and I am sure all Members will welcome that the civilianisation effort is also increasing within the force. Some €300 million, including €205 million under the capital plan, is being invested in ICT infrastructure over the period 2016-2021. This will allow gardaí to deploy the latest cutting-edge technologies in the fight against crime and will facilitate progress on important reforms arising from the Garda inspectorate's report on crime investigation. The capital plan 2016-2021 provides for an investment of €46 million in the Garda fleet in order to ensure that An Garda Síochána has a modern, effective and fit-for-purpose fleet. This is in addition to the investment of almost €30 million in the period 2013-2015, which was covered by the last Government. In the period from 2013 to end of 2017, almost €44 million will have been invested in the fleet, with 2,000 vehicles coming on stream in that period. I believe every Member of the House will acknowledge that was a huge issue in every Garda district across the country. This investment will facilitate the provision of more effective policing services and the Minister expects that the Meath division, like other Garda divisions, will benefit from the new resources becoming available.