FF hypocrisy will not help any family worried about rural crime; proactive Govt measures will make a difference – Daly

Fine Gael TD for Cork South West, Jim Daly has said that Fianna Fáil’s hypocrisy will not help any family worried about burglaries, but proactive Government measures will make a difference in the fight against crime.

“The hypocrisy of Fianna Fáil on the matter of rural crime is something to behold. They remain brazen in their attempts to score political points on this issue, capitalising on people’s fear, when it was their policies that led us to this point in the first place.

“When we look at the significant investment by the current Government in Garda Units, Garda vehicles, stations and ICT systems, the significant increase in Garda recruits and the laws being introduced to punish repeat offenders, it is patently clear that Fine Gael is absolutely committed to tackling rural crime. These investments have occurred despite the severe economic constraints that have existed as a result of Fianna Fáil wrecking our economy, a fact Micheál Martin ignores in his analysis of the situation. 

“After they destroyed the economy, Fianna Fáil closed the Garda training college at Templemore in 2009 and stopped the recruitment of Gardaí. By contrast, this Government reopened Templemore, is in the process of recruiting 1,150 Gardaí and is committed to continuing recruitment at a rate of 600 Gardaí per year. Fianna Fáil on the other hand proposed only 500 Gardaí in Budget 2016 and none at all the previous year.

“This week Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald, launched a joint strategy between An Garda Síochána, the Probation Service and the Irish Prison Service to fight crime. The new strategy will target serial offenders; as Minister Fitzgerald pointed out- 5% of property crime is linked to 25% of offenders. Targeting this cohort of repeat offenders has the potential to significantly reduce the number of burglaries being committed. We are also toughening the bail laws so as to prevent those on bail from re-offending. Those who aren’t deterred by these measures will find themselves serving longer jail sentences for their crimes.

“According to the Garda Commissioner there are 61,000 more Garda hours available for frontline patrol following reforms to the delivery of rural policing. Earlier this month, the Government announced a €205 million plan for investment in new and existing Garda IT systems so as to enable Gardaí to perform their work more efficiently. Fianna Fáil were in government for 14 consecutive years and Gardaí were still writing their rosters with pen and paper.

“Minister Fitzgerald also recently announced 260 new Garda vehicles which will be used to assist the Gardaí in their pursuit of mobile gangs and to enhance night-time public order policing. This brings to €34 million the amount invested in new Garda vehicles since 2012, marking a massive increase on the paltry €4.8 million provided by Fianna Fáil in their last three budgets. Over 640 new vehicles are coming on stream since the start of 2015. Compare this to Fianna Fail’s last full year in office, 2010, when the only 50 new Garda cars were delivered.

“Instead of scare mongering on rural crime for political reasons, Deputy Martin should consider his own party’s complete lack of investment in the Gardaí and the reasons behind that.

“He likes to pretend the economic crash never happened. Meanwhile this Government is left picking up the pieces and trying to restore public services. Now that resources are starting to become more plentiful as a result of our improving economy, we will continue to ensure that people are safe in their homes and businesses, and in our towns and villages.”