Dáil debates

Tuesday, 20 February 2018

6:55 pm

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, is here and I thank him for taking this Topical Issue himself. I am sure the spike in the number of burglaries is not unique to my area or Cork in general. However, it is a huge problem and people are very concerned and fearful. To place the matter in context, Cork city and county saw 324 burglaries in the last three months of 2017, which represents an increase of 40% year on year. That is to say burglaries were up 40% compared to the last quarter of 2016. Thefts from vehicles were up from 144 to 202, which is also a significant increase. The particular area I am highlighting this evening is the Togher Garda district which includes some of the most rapidly expanding communities in Cork, namely Douglas, Carrigaline, Passage West, Crosshaven and Togher itself. There has been a dramatic surge in the number of burglaries in that area. If one takes the example of the town I live in, Carrigaline, there have been more than 20 burglaries in the last three months alone. There have been burglaries right across the Togher Garda district and beyond, including in Glanmire, Blarney and so on. It seems to be a problem gardaí do not have the resources to respond to adequately. When I sought statistics on Garda resources in my area, the reply I received showed that Cork city got just 38 of the 1,600 new gardaí who have qualified since 2014. The second largest city in the country got just over 2% of the newly qualified gardaí since 2014. We are not getting our fair share. The Minister might hear that from representatives all over the country, but the statistics bear it out in this case.

The Garda stations in my area are very poorly equipped. They are meant to be open for a certain number of hours, but they make it clear that they may not be open during those hours at all in circumstances in which the gardaí on duty may be called away. In Carrigaline and Douglas, which are very large commuter towns, there are no set guaranteed hours during which the Garda stations will be open. People who have very straightforward requirements like having a passport form stamped must go to the district headquarters in Togher as that is the only 24-7 station in the district. My own observation is that there are not enough civilians working there. The Minister has spoken about increased civilianisation but I went there a number of weeks ago myself to get passport forms stamped and I felt sorry for the garda on duty. He was on his own, the phone was hopping and he was trying to answer it and deal with my issue at the same time.

Carrigaline has a population of approximately 17,000 and Douglas has a population of approximately 40,000 but the Garda numbers there are far too low. It is very evident that gardaí do not have the resources they need. We are not seeing enough foot or vehicle patrols by gardaí and there must be more support from the overall Garda division. We need to see Operation Thor in our area and more checkpoints. Visibility is vital, not only as a deterrent but as a way to build confidence among residents in the local community. I am liaising and working with gardaí locally, including the chief superintendent. I have raised these issues directly with the acting Garda Commissioner and I await a detailed response. I hope the Minister will take up these issues and ensure we get greater Garda resources which are appropriate to the scale and growth of the areas I represent.

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I assure Deputy Michael McGrath that An Garda Síochána continues carefully to monitor the activities of criminal groups affecting all areas of the country, including Cork city and the surrounding areas as raised by the Deputy. I also assure him that we are ensuring the implementation of strong policing measures to disrupt and dismantle the networks of criminal gangs. The Deputy will appreciate that it is the acting Garda Commissioner and his management team who are responsible for the deployment of Garda resources. However, in terms of specific actions being taken by An Garda Síochána in the district, I am advised by the Garda authorities that as a result of information derived from intelligence sources and investigations, a number of mobile organised criminal gangs have come into focus in Cork. I am further advised that a strong crime prevention element has been put in place in the Cork city division consisting of a number of measures including uniformed Operation Thor patrols, a dedicated detective unit assigned to patrol the off-ramps to Cork city and improved communication between Cork north and Cork west divisions and other regions with motorway access to Cork. These measures are further supported by the armed support unit.

As the Deputy will be aware, very significant resources have been provided to An Garda Síochána, including the overtime allocation of almost €100 million announced in budget 2018, to support large-scale policing operations, including Operation Thor, to which the Deputy referred. It is also worth noting that Operation Thor has now entered its winter phase, which runs from October to April. Indeed, provisional operational material released by the Garda in January of this year indicated a significant drop in burglary rates for the two-month period of November and December 2017. This success has been attributed to the winter phase of Operation Thor. Of course, these figures should be viewed with caution until such time as the publication of the official crime statistics has recommenced.

The scale of Garda activity against burglary and property-related crime under Operation Thor nationally has led to concentrated Garda activity. As of 18 January 2018, 105,790 targeted checkpoints and 99,210 crime prevention patrols have been conducted nationwide. To give the House an idea of the impact of the operation, I note that this concentrated policing activity has produced approximately 6,600 arrests and 7,420 charges covering a range of offences which, in addition to burglary, include handling stolen property, the possession of firearms and many drug offences.

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, namely, the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015. The provisions of the Act are available to gardaí to support prosecutions arising from Operation Thor. Furthermore, the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act, which has been commenced, introduced the DNA database that 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 in the coming years in the Cork city district, referred to by the Deputy, as well as throughout the country.

7:05 pm

Photo of Michael McGrathMichael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister. I have to make the case again that the expanding communities I represent need more gardaí. When we look at the overall number of new gardaí and the proportion that has come to my area, it is clear we are not getting a fair share. The communities I represent are growing. Unfortunately, despite the national figure quoted by the Minister, which shows a significant drop in burglary rates in November and December of 2017, we had the opposite experience, with a lot of thefts from cars and many burglaries. These mobile gangs to which the Minister refers have their homework done and they have clearly been surveying properties for God knows how long. The trend has been early evening burglaries when the home is empty and the gangs focus, in particular, on the older housing estates in my area.

This is a significant problem. What people want above all else is to see more gardaí. They want greater visibility, they want a local Garda station that works and that is open as much as it possibly can be to service their area. They want more Garda patrols and more checkpoints, and they want to see gardaí on the beat in the local community. The Minister hears this from all over the country but surely areas that are growing in population, where the demand is expanding, deserve to get extra resources. The fact is that we are not currently getting this and, in overall terms, despite massive population growth, my Garda district is still well below 2010-2011 Garda strength levels.

That is the key issue. I want to plant that seed. I ask the Minister to raise this with the acting Garda Commissioner and to try to get some practical progress, so people can see there is a change and that their area does matter for An Garda Síochána and the Minister.

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I assure Deputy Michael McGrath that I have taken careful note of the points he has raised and I would be happy to engage further with him. We must all remain vigilant in the fight against all forms of criminality across communities, urban and rural. I assure the Deputy that the acting Garda Commissioner and I remain in ongoing contact in the context of the deployment of Garda resources in line with new and emerging trends. Operation Thor is proving most successful to date and the Government remains committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has an appropriate level of resources to tackle crime in our communities. Indeed, the recent budget will support the continuation of this high-level investment in the Garda workforce and ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track.

I agree that availability and visibility are all-important, and that is now what we are seeing across communities in terms of an increased presence of gardaí since the reopening of the Garda College in Templemore under this Government. A further 800 new recruits will enter the college and an additional 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. I agree with the Deputy on the matter of form-filling and passport applications. In addition, we have plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve, with new reserves expected to commence training in early 2018.

I assure the House and Deputy Michael McGrath that all Garda activities, including community policing, will undoubtedly benefit from the resources now coming on stream through the Garda recruitment programme and, in particular, the commitment on the part of the Government to increase Garda numbers so that the force will have the capacity to address the needs of communities throughout the country, including in Cork and other areas, well into the future.