Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Cathaoirleach on his very successful trip representing our country abroad. He must be praised for his work.

I often avail of the train service from Mullingar to Dublin. It is something that certainly should be upgraded. Mullingar, as we know, is quite a large town. There is a serious upgrade of the line to Maynooth with more services being laid on and a slight follow-on to Enfield in the next while. There is only a single rail line beyond Maynooth to Mullingar, which is a problem for anyone travelling west. Certainly, we should roll out the second line as far as a large hub like Mullingar, maintain it and provide a more regular service, because the reality is any train that leaves Mullingar to go to Dublin is full, particularly any one in the early hours with people going to work or coming to Dublin about their business.

We might bring in the Minister for Justice for a talk about gardaí dealing with victims of aggravated burglaries and serious assaults. It would be just about the general process from start to finish. I highly commend the Garda for having broken up several of these gangs that have been carrying out these aggravated burglaries. We see people in front of the courts at present and there have been many serious convictions in this regard recently. The Garda has been very successful in this regard. I am curious how the Garda deals with the victims after such an incident, regardless of whether somebody was convicted or the Garda got somebody who had been involved in it. There seems to be a variation in how victims are dealt with in these types of cases.Perhaps the Minister for Justice might come to the House to discuss that particular matter some day.

Finally, if the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, was available for half an hour to talk to my wife before the Christmas shop, I would really appreciate it.