Carol Nolan presses for more community Garda to tackle rural crime

Go raibh maith agat, Lásk i an Córle and Minister, before I begin I want to also congratulate you on your good news it's lovely to hear some positive news for a change during this pandemic so it's great. My question relates to the strategic measures. What strategic measures is the Department of Justice taking to tackle and indeed prevent crime in rural Ireland and in particular burglaries in rural Ireland? Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. There are now some 14,600 Garda members and over 3,000 Garda staff nationwide and Budget 2021 will allow for the recruitment of up to 620 new Garda and an extra 500 Garda staff. There will be a continued investment in the Garda fleet of 8 million euros in addition to the highest ever investment of approximately 15 million euros in the Garda transport fleet in 2020, a proportion of which relates to the Garda COVID response. While the Garda has provided very dedicated service to assisting in the national effort to combat the threat of COVID-19, ordinary policing has of course also continued throughout the period. The Deputy will be aware of Operation Tour, which is designed specifically to tackle the increase in the number of burglaries and associated criminal activity that usually occurs in the winter months by undertaking targeted enforcement and preventative activity. This year's winter phase of Operation Tour began on the 1st of October 2020 and will run until the end of March 2021. This initiative, which also features the lock-up and light-up public awareness campaign, encouraging homeowners to protect their homes over the winter months when burglaries tend to increase, has led to a very significant and sustained decline in burglaries and properly rated crimes since its introduction in 2015. I am pleased to say that I am also informed by the Garda authorities that incidences of residential burglary have been reduced by 41% to 52,816 incidences, while non-residential burglary is down 31% to 19,672 incidences in comparison to the equivalent period before the operation began. The rest of the answer will be read into the record. Deputy Nolan. Minister, I thank you for your answer, and certainly Operation Tour has led to a decrease, and I accept that. But I suppose my question deals with other preventative aspects of the problem, and I feel, and many others feel, and it has been raised in here a number of times, that one of the key deficits is the lack of community policing. I know you mentioned extra recruits, but in particular community policing, is that being looked at? And are there any plans to increase the number of community Garda, for example, community policing levels in Leish Offaly have dropped dramatically in the last number of years. Indeed, data from the Department of Justice that I obtained through a parliamentary question show that the number of Garda in Leish Offaly Division in 2009 was 44, and the current figure is now just seven. This represents a 500% drop in a little over a decade, and it is very concerning to communities who feel isolated, particularly rural communities. I have also continually called on government to conduct an immediate review of the trespass laws aimed at strengthening the rights of farmers and landowners to protect their property and their person, because that's another issue of concern. Thank you, Deputy. Minister. I thank Deputy Nolan. The Deputy may wish to note that as of 31 October 2020, there were 384 Garda assigned to the Leish Offaly Division. This represents an increase of 38% since 2015, when there were 278 Garda assigned to the division. In addition, on the same date, there were 38 Garda staff civilians assigned, and an increase of almost 73% since 2015, when 22 staff members were assigned to that division. The increase in Garda staff is also training Garda to return to frontline duties. The Deputy is correct in terms of the figures. There have been seven community Garda in Leish Offaly Division as of the end of October, when that parliamentary question was replied to. But I'm pleased to inform the Deputy that since then, the number has actually increased to 14, a doubling of the number since then. And this represents a significant increase over the 2015 figure, which stood out for community Garda. So there has now, in that time period since then, been a significant increase, and I hope that will help go to alleviate the Deputy's concerns on the area of community policing. Mr Deputy Nolan. Margaret, Minister, I do acknowledge, I mean, an increase is an increase, but we're talking about 44 in 2009 and 14 currently. And there is a need for more Garda, I mean, I know even that there's instances of more anti-social behaviour in estates, and indeed that was discussed by the local authority in Offaly with the county councillors during the week. There is a desperate and urgent need for more community Garda, and I would like to see that trebling by next year, because I just feel that to come down from 44 in 2009 to 7 currently is just not acceptable. I think the figure needs to go up in order to help prevent burglaries and also to tackle the scourge of anti-social behaviour, which is affecting so much of our communities, both urban and rural, and particularly during this lockdown, it seemed to escalate. And I feel that really and truly the community policing model needs to be really, I suppose, prioritised above all else. And as I say, I do acknowledge the increase, and increase is an increase from 7 to 14, but I hope that that will continue. And I really hope that there will be genuine efforts to get it back up to where it needs to be. And I mean, it does need to be above 44. Thank you, Minister. Again, thank the Deputy, and absolutely agree with the Deputy. I want to see a greater emphasis on community policing, and they seem to play a very important role in our communities. I can also tell the Deputy that I expect to publish the Youth Justice Strategy in the next month or two, which will give a comprehensive approach to dealing with young people who are coming into the network of our court services and our criminal justice system. And also I've set up now the anti-social behaviour forum as well, which has met for the first time initially, but will now be meeting towards the end of January, early February as well. And we have a number of rural groups on that as well. And what we're looking to do now is comprehensively tackle that whole anti-social behaviour, both from a Department of Justice perspective and from an on-garde Siakana perspective as well. Thank you.