Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)

In one of my first speeches in the Seanad, I spoke about community safety. I spoke about the fear people have walking the streets at night time and, in fact, in day time. I spoke of attacks in our local towns and how people constantly live in fear. I used the example of a store owner going to the bank at 3 p.m. who was jumped upon. Community safety was one of the biggest issues I faced on the doors when I was canvassing.

It is a known fact that Meath has the lowest number of gardaí per capita compared with any other county. This is not a new phenomenon. It has been happening for years and I just do not understand it. CSO figures for 2024 released two days ago show that the number of crimes recorded at over half of the Garda stations in the country exceeded already high levels in the pre-pandemic period. Crime rates in Trim and Kells in County Meath reached a six-year high while crime in Navan reached a 20-year high. A total of 2,229 crimes were reported in Navan, with theft accounting for 50% of them. Worryingly, assaults accounted for 10% of all crimes. A total of 661 crimes were reported in Trim, with theft accounting for 25% and assaults accounting for 14%. Villages like Enfield and Ballivor are crying for Garda stations to be at least opened. Even though Enfield has had a small increase in gardaí, there are still not enough of them to keep the Garda station open for even a few hours a day. People have to travel to Trim to get forms signed, never mind the fact that a crime might be happening in Enfield. We need a community policing unit to be assigned to and based in Ballivor or Summerhill to cover those areas, we clearly need more gardaí in Navan, Trim and Kells and it is about time that Meath stopped featuring in articles quoting its crime, its yearly highs and the fact that it still has the lowest number of gardaí in Ireland. I would really appreciate hearing what the Minister for Justice has to say about increasing Garda levels in County Meath.