Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It was reported recently that up to one third of motor vehicles thefts involve unlocked cars. I am Vice Chairman of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, which spent a long time discussing motor insurance and the cost of motor insurance. It surprises me hugely that one third of the car thefts that are even reported involve unlocked cars. Presumably some people in this situation do not report it because of their stupidity in leaving their cars unlocked with cash, valuables, laptops and other equipment in them. People are going around at night and are checking people's cars and are discovering that they are unlocked. There is CCTV footage of people checking cars. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport or, if she has responsibility for insurance, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation should produce a campaign to ensure that we alert people. It is a very simple thing to lock one's car. It is probably a very simple thing to leave it open but the consequences are quite significant. People are out there preying on it. As a national Chamber, we should be trying to remind people to do the simplest thing of all, namely, lock their cars, reduce motor insurance premiums in the process and save themselves an awful lot of time and grief.