Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to seek a debate with the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, on what I can only call a crime spree in County Roscommon at the moment. I am not pointing the finger at the Minster in any way whatsoever, because I fully understand that the Garda Commissioner has responsibility for law and order. However, I cannot any longer stay silent on the matter. In recent weeks, at night, criminals have taken control of parts of the county. On one occasion it was the village of Tulsk.The Leader knows this road very well. The N5 is a national primary route. They took control of the road as they raided a local pub and the owners of that pub were on the premises. Even in recent days, we have had robberies in west Roscommon. Members of the Garda are frustrated. I met our spokesperson, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, recently to see whether we could push for a scenario that if any of those criminals who have already been charged with robbery and who frighten people, particularly older people, and families commit that crime for a second time, there has to be a policy whereby they are not allowed out on bail. They must be held on remand. If there are people in our system who are in jail for a minor misdemeanour, we should really consider letting them out.

I know of one incident of a woman living in another village, Castleplunket, who was looking across the road at the family pub being raided at 4 o'clock in the morning, knowing that her brother and his family were next door. These guys were smashing in the windows and doors in front of her eyes. She could not get a garda for about 40 minutes. I do not blame the gardaí but we have to do something about this. We need to have a good debate with the Minister in this Chamber to see how we can change our policing system, particularly in counties like Roscommon, to deal with these criminals. If we have to put patrols on the bridges over the River Shannon, because most of them are coming from Dublin I am sorry to say, we have to do it. I hope we can have a debate on that.