Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputies Niamh Smyth and Carol Nolan are sharing time on the final Topical Issue.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, for being in attendance for this debate on the important issue of rural crime. A public meeting was held last night in County Offaly to highlight an issue that has become an epidemic nationwide, unfortunately. I will give two small examples from my constituency. In recent months, there have been eight break-ins at people's homes across an area from Clones, County Monaghan to Mountain Lodge, County Cavan. These crimes happened in broad daylight, generally between early morning and lunchtime. The last of the break-ins in question affected the McGinn family. Luckily, the children were at school when this happened. This young couple had left their house earlier that day to go somewhere. When they came back at lunchtime, they found three men - criminals - ransacking their home. They arrived at the back door to find a man standing there with a hurley stick, ready to attack whoever got in his way.

Again in the Cootehill area, the home of a couple in their early 70s was one of 16 homes and businesses that were broken into in the past number of weeks. Criminality is on the rise. That particular couple had to barricade their farm machinery and equipment and almost barricade themselves into their home and farmyard. On three occasions during the past couple of weeks, that one farmyard and house was broken into, with attempted robbery on one occasion while equipment was stolen on two occasions. A total of 16 homes and businesses within an eight-mile radius of Cootehill were affected.

The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has just left the House. He was lucky enough to get Stepaside Garda station reopened. The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht represents this constituency and Cootehill is her home base. Cootehill Garda station has restricted opening hours. It is not a 24-hour station. It borders Cavan and Monaghan. Given the statistics I am providing, which are factual, we need that station to be open on a 24-hour basis. Garda resources are starved in this area and we need them to be replenished.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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Rural crime is definitely increasing regardless of statistics. The people on the ground will tell one that. Hundreds of people have attended meetings throughout the constituency of Offaly. We have had meetings in Cloghan and Banagher and there was a meeting last night in Coolderry attended by over 200 people in solidarity with Richie McKelvey, the farmer who was savagely attacked. This is spiralling out of control. We need resources. People are living in terror. There are reports of farmers bringing firearms into their bedrooms at night in order to protect themselves. There will be an escalation of this. We need more gardaí on the ground. We do not need to hear about the reopening of Templemore. We want to see the results of that. We want to see more gardaí patrolling and protecting rural communities.

We also want to see part-time stations turned into full-time stations. One example is Edenderry, a big town in north Offaly with a growing population. The Garda station is open on a part-time basis, which is a disgrace because we are seeing increasing crime in that town. It involves rural crime and crime throughout our towns and villages. We need to tackle it head on and we need our Garda stations to be reopened but we also need a strong Garda presence on the ground.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this very important issue. I assure the Deputies that An Garda Síochána carefully monitors the activities of criminal groups affecting all areas of the country and is implementing strong policing measures to disrupt and dismantle their networks. The Deputies will appreciate that it is the Garda Commissioner and his management team who are responsible for the deployment of Garda resources, including personnel, to specific areas. However, l am advised that Garda management constantly monitors the distribution of resources in light of crime trends and overall policing needs.

The Deputies will appreciate that very significant resources have been provided to An Garda Síochána, including an overtime allocation of €100 million announced in budget 2018 to support large-scale policing operations, including Operation Thor. It is also worth noting that Operation Thor has now entered its winter phase, which will run from 29 October 2017 to 1 April 2018. The scale of Garda activity against burglary and property crime under Operation Thor has led to concentrated Garda activity resulting to date in over 92,040 targeted checkpoints and 71,700 crime prevention patrols nationwide. This concentrated policing activity has produced in the region of 6,130 arrests and 6,920 charges covering a range of offences, which, in addition to burglary, have included handling stolen properly, possession of firearms and drugs offences.

In addition, Operation Thor has targeted mobile criminal gangs engaged in burglary and related crimes and it is encouraging to note that since the launch of the operation in November 2015, the burglary figures have shown a significant downward trend. The Deputies will be aware that the CSO official recorded crime statistics for 2016 show a decrease in burglary offences of 30% when compared to the previous 12-month period in 2015. This reflects the success of the concerted Garda drive against crime being implemented under Operation Thor. Furthermore, crime prevention officers actively engage with community groups to promote the Safer Communities campaign and advise residents of ways to increase their personal safety and secure their property.

I listened with care to what the Deputies said this evening, particularly to what Deputy Smyth said about her area of Cavan and Monaghan and to what Deputy Nolan had to say about County Offaly. I acknowledge the horrific and totally unacceptable assault on Richie McKelvey in south Offaly and offer my condolences and the condolences and sympathies of Deputy Corcoran Kennedy on what was an unacceptable act. We are in constant contact with An Garda Síochána to ensure those responsible for these unacceptable acts are brought to justice.

As part of the concerted strategy to combat burglary, the Government has made it a priority to secure the enactment of specific legislation targeting prolific burglars in the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015. The provisions are now available to gardaí to support prosecutions arising from Operation Thor. Furthermore, the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act, has commenced. This Act introduced the DNA database, which provides gardaí with investigative links, or hits, between people and unsolved crimes, including burglaries. It is anticipated that this will assist in improving detection rates for burglary over the coming years. I assure the Deputies that I take these issues extremely seriously and that under my watch, I will ensure, as Minister for Justice and Equality in conjunction with An Garda Síochána, that there will be no hiding place in any part of rural Ireland for people engaged in criminal activity.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I sense from what the Minister has said today that there will be zero tolerance for criminality in rural areas. However, I must say that the McGinn family in Mountain Lodge and the McPhillips family in Kill do not feel the benefits of Operation Thor. The McGinns were faced with a criminal standing at their back door with a hurley in his hand and had to wait 40 minutes for a Garda car to come from Carrickmacross, which is in a different county. As I said earlier, Cootehill Garda station has restricted hours so there was nobody available at that time and the McGinns had to wait 40 minutes for a Garda car to arrive. Three hours later, those criminals were seen crossing the Border into a different jurisdiction and had not been apprehended at any point in their spree of break-ins from Clones to Mountain Lodge in County Cavan. Operation Thor certainly does not hold any weight for those people at the coalface.

I compliment the Minister on the CCTV scheme, which has huge potential. However, from working with community groups on the ground, I am hearing that the application form is cumbersome. There are restrictions around Garda stations and council buildings in the community. The communities affected by this such as Ballyhaise and Bailieborough do not have council offices for monitoring and storing data. The scheme needs to be rolled out in a more fluid way so that communities can access the funding. They badly need it and are willing to work and supply the application form. I appeal to the Minister to make it easy for them.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I recognise the setting up of the task force as a positive step but far more needs to be done. We have operations that only target motorways but we have heard reports that these criminals are now using back roads into communities. Communities just do not feel safe. Their confidence has been shaken. If we look at the reporting of agricultural crime, we can see that 45% was not reported. That clearly shows a lack of confidence in the system and that people are almost giving up and despairing. People in rural communities are not asking for anything to which they are not entitled. We want a fair chance and fair play. We want our gardaí on the ground, as it used to be when gardaí were visible and were always present or when local gardaí also acted in the community and struck up a great rapport with those communities. We are calling for that to be restored. We are calling for these communities to receive fair play. I ask the Minister to call for increased numbers of gardaí because they are warranted. Hundreds of people in my community come to my office to ask for it.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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In response to Deputy Nolan, I will not indulge in the politics of despair or misery.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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It is not politics. It is fact. It is reality.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I will do something about it. As far as County Offaly is concerned, Deputy Corcoran Kennedy and I are in constant contact with An Garda Síochána and are very pleased by the recent task force announced by the chief superintendent which will see a back-up of armed units assisting in tracking down these criminals.

We must all remain vigilant in the fight against all forms of criminality in the community. Budget 2018 will support the continuation of this high level investment in the Garda workforce. I will not call for more gardaí-----

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister should.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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-----I will ensure-----

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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He should take responsibility.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I will ensure we have more gardaí.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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It will be too late if something happens again.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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May I continue uninterrupted? My target is to ensure the overall Garda workforce of 21,000 by 2021 is firmly on track. A further 800 new garda recruits will enter the Garda College next year. An extra 500 civilians will be recruited. I will be in Templemore before Christmas and I will witness the passing out of a further 200 Garda Síochána on top of the recently attested 188 from Templemore in November. I will get things done. The Deputy can continue the politics of misery and despair.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I am not. It is reality.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I will ensure there is a complement of civilians recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of gardaí from technical and administrative duties to front-line operational duties on the ground and on the streets, highways and byways of the country. In addition, I have plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve. I hope the Garda Reserve is fully supported by Deputy Nolan's party, which is not always the case where the Garda Síochána is concerned.

Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I will not be going into the gutter with the Minister.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new reserves expected to commence training in early 2018. Deputy Smyth raised the very important issue of the Garda fleet. I agree with her and I am very pleased to note that over the past couple of years we have managed an additional 720 new Garda vehicles, some of which are evident on the roads, highways and byways of County Cavan and across County Offaly.

I assure the House that I will ensure the Garda Síochána has the capacity to address the needs of communities throughout the country well into the future.