Yesterday afternoon, a man was shot dead in broad daylight on Kilbarron Avenue in Coolock in Dublin. Last week, a man was shot in broad daylight in Darndale in a laneway adjacent to a primary school. These murders follow on from a spate of other shootings and killings in recent weeks and months in Dublin, Drogheda and other parts of the country, with numerous people dead and seriously injured as a result of criminal feuds. People in those communities are living in fear. I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that these are great communities. Darndale, Coolock and Drogheda are great communities but people are living in fear and they deserve better.

While I acknowledge the complexity of gang feuds and dealing with them, as well as the enormous challenge of tackling gangs which cannot be understated, the reality is that this Government is not doing enough. The response, to say the least, has been lacklustre. The Garda has done some good work in recent times. We have seen drug seizures and arrests but the Garda is operating with one hand tied behind its back. It is confined by a lack of resources and personnel. The figures speak for themselves. We have fewer gardaí now than we had ten years ago. This is not only an urban issue. People in rural Ireland are also fearful of crime. We have had an increase in burglaries and break-ins to people's homes. People need protection. Many Garda stations across rural Ireland have fewer gardaí and resources now than they had ten years ago. Many communities, towns and villages have no Garda stations because they were closed by the Taoiseach's Government and Fianna Fáil.

The approach to tackling violent crime has been, for the most part, a reactionary one on the part of the Government. We need more gardaí on the beat and more resources for An Garda Síochána so they can put these people behind bars. We also need to do more to divert young people from crime. That means more resources for those who work in the field of tackling drugs and making sure that people have alternatives. All the drug task forces, which have also been decimated by Government funding cuts under the Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil, are now coming home to roost and are biting. I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that these killings are unacceptable and the people in the affected communities deserve better. What is the Government going to do about them?

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I want to share with the House our collective revulsion at the killings that have happened in different parts of Dublin and Drogheda in recent weeks and to express solidarity with the communities in which these killings have happened. This is a matter which Cabinet discussed on Monday night at the specific request of the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, who represents Darndale and Coolock which are part of the constituency, and also the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton. The Minister for Justice and Equality spoke with the Garda Commissioner about the matter today and intends to visit the area. I will do the same as soon as I can find a little time. The people who live in the north-east inner city, Darndale and Drogheda and in Corduff in my constituency are good, hardworking people. They have a right to feel safe in their homes and communities. We all share in that sentiment.

In terms of what the Government is doing, after many years of retrenchment and cutbacks as a consequence of a financial crash, which this Government did not cause, we have now fixed the economy and because of that we have been in a position in recent years to provide unprecedented resources to the Garda. The Garda budget has increased to €1.76 billion for this year, the highest allocation ever. The total number of gardaí is now back up to 14,000 and the figure reaches 17,000 if we include civilian staff. There is now an armed support unit in every Garda region and a 24-7 armed support unit in the Dublin area. There are 600 gardaí entering training this year. That does not mean a 600 increase in Garda numbers because there will be retirements but there will be a further increase in the number of gardaí this year. New headquarters have been established in Kevin Street, Galway and Wexford because it makes sense to have new modern Garda stations, not small ones based on an old fashioned policing model that dates back long before mobile phones and Garda cars. An additional €10 million has been allocated for the purchase and fit-out of Garda vehicles. Therefore, action is being taken.

The Garda has made a lot of progress in tackling the threat of organised crime. It behoves us to thank gardaí for that and offer our further support. The Garda is also working closely with colleagues in other jurisdictions in investigating the supply of drugs and guns. Intelligence-led policing, involving many Garda units around the country, is yielding significant results. I commend gardaí on their tireless efforts in continuing to tackle organised crime. They have had huge success in doing that in the north-east inner city, as they had prior to that in Limerick, and I every confidence they will do so again.

I thank the Taoiseach for his response. Unfortunately, the increase that he spoke about has simply not been enough. Senior gardaí in the affected communities have said that. We have heard them say it in Drogheda, Dundalk, Dublin and rural parts of Ireland where they simply do not have the required resources. In 2009, we had 14,547 gardaí. We now have 14,160, which is 387 fewer and the population has increased. The Taoiseach referred to the number of Garda recruits. That number was meant to be 800 but a decision was made to reduce it to 600. Can the Taoiseach stand over that decision, given what has happened? He acknowledged these are very serious crimes which are having a big impact on the affected communities. How can he stand over reducing the number of new recruits from 800 to 600?

Can the Taoiseach give a commitment that the drug task forces, whose funding have been decimated year on year since 2009, will have their funding restored to 2009 levels? That is a clear challenge I put to the Taoiseach. I and the people living in these communities want to hear a clear response to that from the Government. If the Taoiseach increased the number of new recruits from 600 to 800 and ensured the number of gardaí was restored to at least the number we had ten years ago and funding to the drug taskforces was also restored, people would see more of an effort was being made by the Government. However, the Government is falling short and that is having an impact in all those communities.

Even in a very wealthy country, and this is a wealthy country, there is only a certain amount of money. When we approach full employment, there is only a certain number of people who can possibly be recruited into the public workforce or the private workforce. Notwithstanding that, the Garda budget is at an all-time high of €1.7 billion and extra recruitment is happening every year. We reopened Templemore after it was closed by a previous Government and have been recruiting ever since. In fact, 200 more gardaí will come out of Templemore next week. We will continue to see an increase in the number of gardaí over the coming years.

The Garda Commissioner makes a decision on the balance of recruitment between sworn officers - gardaí - and civilian staff. He took the decision, instead of having 800 sworn officers, to have 600 sworn and 200 civilian staff because for the Garda Síochána to work as a modern organisation it also needs to take in civilian staff working in specialist areas. The increase is still the same but the balance is different. A modern police force probably needs to have more civilian staff so that it can free up gardaí to do police work.