Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)

I would like to bring up the horrible issue of graffiti. More and more, when I travel through towns in County Meath, graffiti is becoming a major issue, especially in Navan, the town I come from.

Graffiti is criminal damage and it is against the law. The people doing it may not think they are causing much harm but this can come with a huge economic cost to the building owners. There are clean-up costs, it is unsightly and there is an increased fear of crime in the area. It encourages other crime, people do not want to see this near their home and it can discourage investment in a town.

Places like Venice, California and Copenhagen provide legal spaces for artists to work. Should we consider something like this? Should we have tougher penalties? I think we probably should. How do we stop it? Some lovely historic buildings are being destroyed. One that comes to mind is the lovely Spicer's Bakery on Kentstown Road in Navan. It keeps being destroyed by graffiti and it is really sad to see it. I would appreciate a debate on this to consider how we can tackle graffiti in our towns and villages and whether there should be tougher penalties against it.