Ireland in “grips of crime” says Ó Ríordáin

Labour justice spokesperson Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has called on the Minister for Justice to outline Government’s response to the enormous increase in crime throughout communities.

The Dublin Bay North TD said figures published by the Central Statistics Office highlight what his party has been highlighting in the Dáil.

“Crime across our communities is skyrocketing, yet we’ve yet to hear a proactive response from the Justice Minister on proposals to make our communities safer.”

“The old saying is true – prevention is the best cure. It’s clear now that we need an increase in community policing to stop robberies (up 20%), theft (up 25%), and the over 9,000 cases of burglaries reported last year.

Ó Ríordáin claimed that “trust has broken down between frontline Gardaí and the Office of the Garda Commissioner,” referencing the recent vote by rank-and-file gardaí which saw 98.7% of those poll express no confidence in Commissioner Drew Harris.

“The Minister cannot wash her hands of this when it’s clear that communities are experiencing higher rates of crime than average,” he said.

“Community policing is totally under resourced, and criminals are preying on this opportunity.”

“The Minister must make a statement to the Dáil to outline to communities what this Government is doing to protect them this winter. Ireland has clearly become a more dangerous place under Fine Gael’s watch.”

“After 12 years of ministerial control, the Department of Justice is in a mess. The increase in community crime, the GRA petition and the criminal barristers strike are just the latest in a catalogue of failures by this Government,” he stated.

Ó Ríordáin’s criticism of the Minsiter for Justice are shared by Aontú’s Peadar Tóibín who said it is “no surprise to anyone that violent crime is on the increase.”

“Garda numbers and morale is on the floor -the number of Gardaí has fallen for each year that Minister Helen McEntee has been Minister for Justice,” he said.

Tóibín said “in 2020 there were 14,628 Gardaí in the state, but the latest figures we have show just 13,892 gardaí employed across the state. Garda morale is on the floor and recruitment to Templemore has collapsed.”