Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Next Thursday in the Taney parish centre I will be holding a public meeting aimed at stopping burglaries. It follows a meeting I held in May on tackling crime and burglaries in the Dublin Rathdown area. More than half of the people who attended that meeting had had their houses burgled, which is serious. On 30 June the CSO published figures showing there had been a surge of 8% in the number of burglaries in the past 12 months. I am calling for the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, to come to the House to discuss with us what she intends to do and how she will increase the numbers of gardaí to halt the increase in the number of burglaries. A surge of 8% nationally is frightening. It was folly to close the Garda station in Stepaside. The constituency of Dublin Rathdown is very close to the M50 which those who want to carry out burglaries in the area can use to get in and out easily. Based on my experience, I am passionate about the need to revamp the Neighbourhood Watch scheme. At the public meeting next week I will have three brilliant speakers: the chairman of Crimestoppers, Mr. Tim Dalton; the local community garda in the area and Ms Noreen Barron who will speak about the Neighbourhood Watch scheme.