Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Senator Cáit Keane referred to the Garda using technology to check car tax, insurance and licences. I am not sure it is the job of the Garda to check tax and insurance. Modern technology enables us to do that in a much more efficient way.

I saw a huge traffic jam recently where gardaí had stopped traffic on the north side of the city. It must have gone back 2 km or 3 km while they checked insurance and the tax discs. That can be done readily nowadays, and it is being done, with a smartphone. We should investigate the possibility of doing something like that because there is little doubt that it does not make sense for the Garda to be doing it.

Two figures were published today. First, the number of burglaries has increased by 8.4% this year on last year and, second, incidents of stealing from shops have increased by 11.2%. I do not know if that is related to Garda stations being closed but it is the sort of topic we should be debating in this House. I ask the Leader to find time for a debate on that in the near future.

The ploughing championships last week were a wonderful success. I spoke yesterday to a group of young students in Trinity College about entrepreneurship. The ploughing championships came about from an idea Anna May McHugh had 52 years ago. That lady is not a young entrepreneur, although she may have been at that time. The ploughing championships were a wonderful success. I was delighted to see that the French Government gave her an award last week because of that success, and I would like to congratulate her.