Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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94. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his views on the concerns of rural communities regarding policing and community safety. [68409/25]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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This Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities across the country. Minister O'Callaghan and I are conscious that different communities have different needs and we must recognise that. When it comes to rural communities, some areas may face quite specific challenges given their geographic characteristics, whereas some challenges and crime types may be experienced across all rural communities.

Getting more Gardaí out on patrol in all our communities is this Government’s first priority in the area of Justice. A Garda budget of €2.59 billion in 2026 will fund the recruitment of up to 1,000 new Gardaí. An Garda Síochána, through Public Jobs, has run two Garda recruitment campaigns in 2025, with over 11,100 applications in total. Overall, 794 trainees have entered the Garda College in 2025, the highest number since 2018. This shows that recruitment of new Gardaí is gathering real momentum and we now have a steady pipeline of recruits entering the Garda College. 194 new Gardaí attested from the Templemore in mid-November and we are confident that we can look forward to seeing more large groups of Gardaí attesting from Templemore over the course of 2026. In turn these Gardaí will boost numbers throughout the country.

Rural crime obviously covers a number of areas that cause concern for people living in rural communities, ranging from burglary and theft, to animal crime and road traffic offences. An Garda Síochána are committed to tackling all crime, including crime that occurs in our rural communities.

I can assure the Deputy that An Garda Síochána is committed to strengthening their role in fighting crime in rural communities through intelligence-led operations, and their national anti-burglary initiative, Operation Thor. They commenced the winter phase of this Operation in October. This annual increased enforcement operation is aimed at preventing burglars from exploiting the reduced hours of daylight. An Garda Síochána will continue to make arrests as part of ongoing investigations into rural burglaries and bring individuals before the Courts.

Rural safety and community safety is not about policing alone of course – it requires a multi-agency, multi-sectoral and a whole-of-Government response.

Supporting the work of the National Rural Safety Forum, our Department has published the second Rural Safety Plan 2025-2027. The Plan’s vision is to ensure people and communities in rural Ireland feel safe and are safe in their homes, places of work, and their local environments.

It does this by identifying five key priority areas that we will focus on to achieve the overall goal. These areas are: Community Safety, Burglary and Theft, Roads Policing, Animal Crime and Heritage Crime.

Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSP) are also being rolled out across the country at present, including the Waterford LCSP which has been established and which held its first meeting at the beginning of November. They will play a major role in enhancing public safety alongside An Garda Síochána, residents, businesses and state agencies.