Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

All of us must work together. This is not the blame game here. To start that now after being in power for nearly a decade worries me. It worries me that this keeps coming up all the time. All of us working together is the only way we will solve our problems.

Crime impacts all of us. Just because it happens in another town or street does not mean we are immune to its ramifications. When criminal gangs roam the country, burgling and causing damage, we all live in fear. When we watch the news and see and hear horrific stories, we all live in fear. In the past decade we have seen the stretching of the resources of our police force. There are good men and women in the force, and they can only what they can. They cannot do it all.

Rural crime has affected all of us, directly or indirectly, and we cannot continue to let thugs and bandits run this country. As homes are burgled, machinery and tools are stolen and people are assaulted and killed, we are all living in fear and we need to take back control of our towns and villages, motorways and streets. A visible Garda presence is vital for all small rural villages and towns - a strong show of action, joined-up thinking and all of us working together to condemn criminality wherever it occurs. That is the only way forward.

Senator Buttimer spoke about the joint policing committees. I am on one of them and have been for years. I see how hard gardaí and communities work. I am part of a community group that works and promotes co-operation and would only praise the Garda. I see that the biggest issue coming from the meetings of the joint policing committees is resources. It is resources, resources, resources.