Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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605. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his proposals to prevent retail crime. [68942/26]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I take any risk to retailers, retail staff and communities very seriously and I am acutely aware of the personal and economic impact that retail crime is having on businesses, retail workers and communities.

I recognise that shoplifting and organised retail crime pose a significant threat to the economic welfare of Irish retailers and that retail theft is not a victimless crime. The Government is taking a number of strategic, tactical and integrated measures to address retail crime.

The Programme for Government makes several commitments in relation to retail crime. Together with the ongoing roll-out of high visibility policing by An Garda Síochána, further measures are also under consideration. These include:

• Improving data sharing between retailers and Gardaí to support enforcement;
• Expanding the use of community sanctions for retail crime; and
• Updating the Public Order Acts to allow prolific offenders to be excluded from retail premises for a certain period of time.

An Garda Síochána commenced a dedicated operation in 2023, ‘Operation Táirge’, to tackle organised retail crime. Under ‘Táirge’, Gardaí nationwide use an intelligence-led approach to identify criminals engaging in retail crime. The approach is to disrupt the most prolific groups using organised crime legislation and proceeds of crime legislation and to work with retailers to strengthen their security and prevent them becoming victims of this criminality.

It should also be noted that my Departments work in relation to community safety, youth justice interventions, probation supervision schemes and antisocial behaviour, as well as securing funding for more Garda recruitment and increasing high visibility policing, will also contribute to the aim of supporting retailers, their staff and their customers.