Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As this is my maiden contribution on justice, I welcome the opportunity to raise many of the issues that have been raised with me in my capacity as a public representative, first on Wexford County Council and now in this Chamber. I appreciate the opportunity.

I will focus my contribution specifically on the question of rural crime. I will support some of the calls that have been made by the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, for a designated rural crime unit in the Garda. Some of the contributions that have been made this evening have touched on many of the issues that I would also like to highlight. I want to focus specifically on four key points. The first relates to rural crime. Many people may not be aware that criminal gangs are targeting farmers specifically to engage in the theft of global positioning system, GPS, units. The Garda suggests they are being taken to eastern Europe. Many farmers are finding that because the tractors and machinery they are using to sow their lands in the tillage season have high-powered GPS units within them, they are being targeted for theft.I encourage any new rural crime unit to pay specific attention to that, as well as the theft of livestock.

I also highlight the need for An Garda Síochána, the Department of Justice and the Minister of State to tackle some of the unexplained sources of wealth that exist in rural Ireland. Everyone is aware of situations where individuals are living far beyond their stated means. While many ideas and questions can be raised as to the source of these funds and income, we need a designated, targeted campaign and operation by An Garda Síochána, specifically in our rural villages, to tackle this issue head-on. It is an issue that has been allowed to fester in rural Ireland for some years now. It needs to be faced head-on. I encourage the Minister of State to tackle this issue in conjunction with the many members of An Garda Síochána who play an excellent role, day in day out, in ensuring the peace of our rural communities.

I also raise the issue of antisocial behaviour in our rural towns and villages. There are three main towns in my constituency of Wexford - Enniscorthy, Wexford town and New Ross. Unfortunately, it has now become a semi-accepted norm that instances of antisocial behaviour, especially in the early hours of the morning at weekends, have become commonplace. While some of these issues will always be with us - I am not naive enough to suggest otherwise - I am strongly of the view that a visible community policing effort to tackle antisocial behaviour, especially at the weekends, should be a priority for the Department in this coming term.

I am somebody who is very proud to be from Wexford. I am sure everybody, including all our guests who have joined us, will agree that the Wexford countryside is the most beautiful in all of Ireland but, unfortunately, there are those who take it upon themselves to litter, discard their rubbish or engage in fly-tipping. If we want to get serious about rural crime, we also need to get serious about the issue of littering. At present, if somebody decides to litter, the minimum fine he or she will get is €75. On conviction in court, it can be increased to €150, with a further increase to €3,000 at the discretion of the judge. I practise as a solicitor. The cold reality of this is that the current scale of the fines system is not sufficient to act as a deterrent to repeat fly-tipping offenders. I encourage the Minister of State to change the legislation in order to increase the number of fines we have in this area.