I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Martin Mansergh, for being here to take this Adjournment matter on behalf, I presume, of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. His portfolio is not unrelated to the topic or irrelevant to the issue; he may be central to it.
In recent months and in particular from Christmas onwards, there has been a substantial number of burglaries on the Inishowen peninsula. The activities have encompassed a number of different types of burglary but in the main, people who have been asleep in their homes have woken in the morning to find someone has been in the bedroom with them, taken engagement rings and money and ransacked the premises. Around Christmas, even something as small as Christmas cards that had not yet been posted were taken out and emptied in the street, with the thieves looking for money in the cards. That is the level of privacy invasion that has taken place.
There have been multiple incidents and because of this, and the inability of the gardaí to bring anybody to book for the burglaries, a mood of great fear and trepidation has become evident in the community. The community I represent has 33,000 people, with a population similar to Louth and a geographical area similar to Leitrim — it may be vice versa as I frequently mix them up. The problem is that there is only one 24-hour Garda station in Buncrana and one is under construction. That exceptional premises will be opened in the middle of this year and it will be a great asset.
A number of years ago I gained a commitment from the Government to ensure we would have a 24-hour presence in north Inishowen, with the physical manifestation being a Garda station in Carndonagh, built at the same time and possibly under the same contract as Buncrana. However, in Buncrana the build is nearing completion and we still have not acquired a site for the station in Carndonagh.
This is not the core of the problem but it contributes to community unease. The 24-hour presence of the Garda in Inishowen would be more visible if there was a base from which to work. I appreciate the work done by gardaí to ensure they bring to book the people carrying out these robberies, but I am very concerned because there are a number of people out on rotas. In some areas there are 44 people and in others there are 22 on such rotas to go out as what some might call vigilantes. These people see it as protecting their own communities. There is anecdotal evidence that these people are armed with pickaxes and there is mention of them being more significantly armed.
This is a disaster waiting to happen. Communities should not take the law into their own hands, but there is such fear and trepidation in rural areas that communities are coming together in this way and manifesting their presence where they feel the gardaí have been unable to apprehend culprits. That is the reason I ask the Minister of State to outline the current position regarding the community alert and the neighbourhood watch programmes. Has the operation of the Garda Reserve been extended throughout the country? Are people encouraged to join the reserve and the policing partnerships. I am a member of the policing partnership in Letterkenny. I signed up to serve on the policing partnership in Buncrana under the Buncrana Town Council. What is being done to get the message across that a constructive way of supporting one's community is to get involved in the community alert programme or the neighbourhood watch programme, feed the information one receives back to the Garda and support the gardaí in their work? I am not completely satisfied with the Garda response in this respect because a number of people brought issues to the attention of the gardaí that have not been followed through by them.
This is a two-way process. I ask the Minister of State, as the Minister with responsibility for the OPW, and acting on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, to improve the Garda presence in the area by the provision of a physical building. Furthermore, I have asked the gardaí in the region to improve their contact and communication with the people on whose behalf they work.
While people in the area have not taken the law into their own hands, I am concerned because they are well organised and carry out patrols and checkpoints. This is not the way community policing should operate. Will the Minister of State give an update on what has been done and what can be done to support the neighbourhood watch programme, the community alert programme, the Garda Reserve and the local policing authorities? That is the way these issues should be channelled.
I recognise there are difficulties in acquiring a site for Carndonagh Garda station. I asked the Minister of State questions about it recently and I ask that the work involved be brought to a conclusion very soon. If it is decided to proceed on the basis of the current site, work on it should proceed. If it is decided not to do so, there are many opportunities to buy property or sites at a much lower price now than was possible last year. I want there to be a 24-hour Garda presence in Carndonagh so that the Garda can lead in security matters and members of the community can feel secure in their beds at night and not be terrorised by a small number of people because that is not what community life in Donegal is about. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.
