29 January 2019
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
Sinn Féin Justice Spokesperson, Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, has called for increased Gardaí, and resources to tackle crime, and particularly burglaries
The Cork South Central raised this with Minister Flanagan, and Junior Minister Stanton, during a Dáil debate on crime earlier this month.
“Minister, I am conscious that crime increased last year, by comparison with 2017, in a number of significant areas, including robberies. In the first nine months of 2018, there were 655 burglaries and 339 vehicle thefts in Cork.”
“Before Christmas, I raised with the Minister my concerns about the ban on Garda overtime. I would be very interested to see the crime statistics for the fourth quarter of 2018. It seems from my experience that there was a very significant increase in a wide variety of crimes, particularly property crimes like burglaries and thefts, in the last three months of the year.”
“I am not just talking about rural areas in this context. There have been significant numbers of burglaries and robberies in Togher, Lehenaghmore and Glanmire. The Carrigaline area, in particular, was hammered over the Christmas period.”
“Hardly a day went by without a new report of people snooping around cars. The town was hammered. In some instances, people who rang in were told that the squad car was out on an emergency call and no other car was available. That is not the fault of gardaí. It is a resourcing issue. Carrigaline is a very significant town, but it is clearly under-resourced in policing terms. The CCTV scheme clearly needs to be addressed and rolled out as well. That scheme needs to be approved. Major towns like Carrigaline need better Garda resources.
“All the evidence and anecdotal experience shows it is undoubtedly the case that visible policing is the best deterrent to crime. However, many Garda stations are still at or below 2010 levels. There is a need to address the serious reduction in community gardaí since 2010. The number of community gardaí in many areas has decreased by 75%. “
“There is a need for the Minister and the Garda Commissioner to examiner policing need in Carrigaline and the surrounding area, and across the entire Togher Garda district.”