Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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86. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the total number of burglaries and-or other crimes reported in each Garda district or division throughout County Kildare in the past five years to date; the actions proposed to combat any increase in such incidents of crime; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23064/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Central Statistics Office (CSO), as the national statistical agency, is responsible for the compilation and publication of the official recorded crime statistics, and the CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose. The success of the Garda measures to tackle burglary being implemented through Operation Thor is borne out by latest CSO crime figures which show a very significant decline in property related crime. The decrease in burglary for the twelve months ending 31 March 2016 is 18.4% compared to the previous twelve month period. The figures for the first three months of the year show an even greater decrease with 36.47% less burglaries than in the first three months of 2015. I have asked the CSO to forward the available statistics in relation to the specific information requested directly to the Deputy.

The recently announced package of additional resources to support Garda operations in 2016 includes provision for the ongoing implementation of Operation Thor. An additional €50 million is to be provided for this intensive policing and crime prevention activity, including Operation Thor. So there will be no let-up in the pressure which the Gardai are bringing to bear on the organised gangs engaged in burglary, including the mobile gangs who have targeted rural communities in various parts of the country. These strong policing measures are backed up by the specific legislation targeting repeat burglars with previous convictions which was enacted in the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act2015. I am very pleased that these provisions are now available to Gardai in relation to prosecutions arising from Operation Thor.

Underpinning all of these measures is the Government’s intention to increase Garda numbers to 15,000 by way of recruitment into An Garda Síochána. While in the short term substantial funds are being provided for overtime working, we are working on measures to accelerate the planned programme of recruitment so that additional new Gardaí are provided as quickly as possible, alongside further civilian and specialist staff recruitment.