Yesterday, I heard the Fianna Fáil leader, Deputy Micheál Martin, speak on RTÉ radio and tar entire communities on the Border as being lawless and out of control. He did likewise in the House on Tuesday. I raise this issue because that is not the case. As a representative of a Border county, I know that no one is more disgusted at the recent attacks on Kevin Lunney and the threats made to the directors of the Quinn group of companies than the people and communities in the area where Quinn group workers live and raise their families. It is not good enough to paint entire communities as complicit in these activities.

That is not what Deputy Micheál Martin said.

The actions of small groups of criminals cannot be used as an excuse to insult or demonise people who live and work in the Border region.

My colleagues, Deputies Ó Caoláin and Martin Kenny, Michelle Gildernew and other Sinn Féin representatives met representatives of the Quinn group last Friday and relayed the message to them that local people in those communities are appalled at and disgusted by the recent attacks on Kevin Lunney and the threats to the company's directors. I am sure Members will agree that anybody who watched the interview with Kevin Lunney on the BBC "Spotlight" programme earlier this week could not be unmoved by his testimony and bravery, and would have been appalled at and revulsed by the brutal attack he underwent. Everybody should be free to go about their business without threats or intimidation, no matter where or for whom they work. This matter must be tackled urgently. It is a serious criminal issue, as well as being of serious economic concern to communities in the Border region.

As Deputies are aware, the Quinn group directly employs 850 workers and indirectly supports up to 2,500 employees on both sides of the Border. This morning, the Quinn group issued a statement that unless the threats are stopped, the owners will be forced to reassess their approach to their investment in the company. If they were to pull out, it would have a serious detrimental effect on those who work directly or indirectly for the group and be a blow to the entire region and its economic fortunes. Now is the time to act with the requisite urgency, put these criminals out of business and ensure the full rigours of the law come down upon them.

We are told that the Garda is making progress in its investigations but, thus far, there have been no arrests. The required mechanism for cross-Border policing co-operation to bring those responsible to justice is already in place. Is this an issue of resourcing that mechanism? Last Tuesday, the Taoiseach accepted there is a need for additional Garda resources in the region. That analysis is correct. That being the case, what will the Government do about this? What additional resources will it ensure are allocated to the investigation and the wider Border region to support communities which wish to ensure that activities such as the attack on Kevin Lunney and the threats to the directors, as well as many other criminal activities, are prevented and that crimes committed are detected and those responsible arrested and brought to face the full rigours of the law?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue which has understandably been a topic of debate this week and last, given the horrific intimidation and brutal kidnapping, assault and torture of Kevin Lunney. I reiterate the support of the Government and the House for Kevin and his family and, indeed, all who work in the broader Quinn group. I too was a little surprised that Deputy Micheál Martin referred to the Border area as "lawless", but this is not a time for party political point scoring. Members of the House need to work together to support the Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, and the Garda, working with the PSNI and communities to bring an end to intimidation and to secure arrests. We need to put resources in place to do that. The Minister and the Taoiseach met the Garda Commissioner and senior Quinn directors, and the Minister met Kevin Lunney.

Significant resources have been put in place in Border regions in recent times. Garda deployment in all areas of the country, and the northern region in particular, has benefited from increased Garda recruitment over the past three years. Due to Government funding, Garda strength in the northern region has increased to approximately 1,500, an increase of 150 since 2017. These gardaí are supported by approximately 160 civilians in the region, compared with 116 at the end of 2016. As of 30 September, 373 gardaí were assigned to the Cavan-Monaghan division, supported by 47 Garda staff and eight reserves.

Compared with 20 in 2009.

We now have an armed support unit in Cavan.

On the calls of Fianna Fáil and others for a cross-Border task force, the joint agency task force was established by the Fresh Start agreement signed and negotiated by the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, who was then Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. It is now being implemented and is led by senior officers of An Garda Síochána, the PSNI, the Revenue Commissioners and the UK Revenue and Customs. The Criminal Assets Bureau and the UK National Crime Agency are also involved.

We cannot go into the detail of operational policing matters, but it is important to state that the Garda Commissioner confirmed to the Minister that progress is being made in the police investigations around this case. It will remain a continuing priority until arrests are secured.

I acknowledge we are being told that progress is being made, but we must ensure that those involved in the commission and orchestration of this brutal attack are apprehended. This is a serious issue with implications for the entire region and its economic fortunes. The livelihoods of the 850 employees and 2,500 indirectly in employment as a result of the work of these directors and the success of the company could be placed in jeopardy. The threats against the company have been going on for years.

They have only been acted upon recently, and we have seen the physical manifestations of that. We need to ask whom these actions serve. They definitely do not serve the community or those people working directly or indirectly with Quinn Insurance. This only benefits those who stand to benefit personally from these actions. The criminals responsible need to be brought to justice - that is vital - but the individual or individuals behind the campaign need to be identified and the same force and rigours of the law need to be brought to bear on that person or persons.

The Taoiseach said there was a need for additional resources. Just yesterday, I got a letter from a person in a successful company on the Border. That person told me there has been numerous assaults and other problems but they no longer contact the Garda because it is a waste of time. This week, somebody who was seriously intoxicated was on the premises. The people in the company phoned the Garda and it took an hour for the Garda to respond. Within that hour the person left. They got into their car and drove on to a national road. The people in that company asked me, and I ask it of the House, what if somebody had been killed? What if somebody's mother lost their life as a result of that? We have a serious issue with lack of resources in Border communities and, unfortunately, the Government is not dealing with it. While we need additional resources for this investigation, we also need to ensure no other crimes are allowed to be committed as a result of a lack of resources.

I will address the resources issue first. The Border region has been prioritised by the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice and Equality. We have seen more Garda vehicles, more Garda personnel, more civilians working alongside gardaí in stations and in administration, more Garda reservists, and the setting up of an armed support unit for An Garda Síochána. We have had the personal engagement of the Minister and the Commissioner with people who have been subject to totally unacceptable intimidation. Resources are being focused on the Border counties and we have probably a closer level of co-operation with the PSNI than we have ever had in the past. We need to continue that priority focus until we deal with some of the issues that all parties in the House have been commenting on and angered by in recent weeks.

However, even in the context of the intimidation in recent years, the Garda has clarified that a number of arrests have been made in connection with the incidents relating to employees and property of QIH, and files have been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP. No charges have been directed at this time in respect of those investigations, but they are still ongoing.

I assure the Deputy that this is a high priority right at the top of Government. I am conscious of the concerns over jobs that are potentially at risk if we cannot deal with the policing challenges here. However, I assure the Deputy that the Government will continue to focus on successful prosecutions of people who belong in jail rather than intimidating their communities as they have been doing.