John O'Donoghue
Question:114 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice the plans, if any, she has to prevent criminal attacks on people in rural Ireland. [3896/96]
Written Answers. - Criminal Attacks.
I share the serious concern of the community in rural areas at the spate of recent attacks. I sympathise with those who have been attacked and their relatives and friends. Any such attacks are deplorable but those on the defenceless elderly, living alone and in isolated areas are particularly reprehensible.
I have been assured by the Garda authorities that considerable resources are being concentrated on putting an end to such attacks and on bringing the perpetrators to justice. Among the measures being taken by the Garda Síochána are the following: the deployment of widespread and mobile road blocks throughout the west in Operation Shannon; extra patrols in areas at special risk; increased Garda visits to the elderly to advise them on measures to improve their personal safety; increased visits to neighbours and relations to enlist their assistance in the protection of the elderly; increased contact with voluntary agencies working with the elderly; special requests to voluntary agencies and the public at large to report any matters out of the ordinary to the Garda without delay; increased activity by crime prevention officers in areas affected; encouragement for the development of neighbourhood watch and community alert schemes in areas not already covered by them.
I am satisfied that the Garda authorities with these measures are taking appropriate steps to protect the rural community and that whatever further measures are found to be necessary will be taken by them.
In all this activity it will be clear that the full co-operation of the rural community in general, and voluntary agencies working for them, is critical to this campaign. I am doing what I can to encourage this community effort. The community alert scheme is a good example. The Garda recently evaluated the operation of the scheme in 15 selected areas. Based on research carried out on the crime levels for the three year periods before and after the community alert scheme was established, the following results were recorded; 17 per cent decrease in attacks on the elderly, 25 per cent decrease in burglaries, 21 per cent decrease in other crimes.
There are now about 800 community alert schemes in operation, involving over 150,000 households throughout the country. To encourage more of them, I am providing £50,000 to Muinir na Tíre to assist them in expanding the scheme.
I also warmly welcome the contacts between Muintir na Tíre and organisations such as the IFA and the ICMSA to discuss arrangements for enhancing the co-ordination between all of the organisations and voluntary groups which can make a major contribution in protecting those most at risk in rural-communities.
The Deputy will be aware that the Minister for Social Welfare recently established a task force on security for the elderly. My Department is represented on this task force by a senior official and by a senior Garda officer. This task force will make recommendations on the security needs of pensioners and I can assure the Deputy that I will fully support these. I understand that the task force is to report to the Minister for Social Welfare by the end of this month.