The wave of vile abuse, harassment, physical attacks, antisocial behaviour and shoplifting in shops and supermarkets was highlighted on RTÉ "Prime Time" last night. The owners of a business in my constituency of Mayo stated that they are currently going through a pandemic of petty crime, with children as young as primary school age committing these thefts. The Ballina-based owners stated that there are not enough repercussions for young offenders involved in retail crime. When owners report these offences, the perpetrators are released. It is sometimes the case that, within hours, they have returned to the scene of the crime to taunt their victims again. Garda figures show that thefts from shops have increased by 41% in the past 12 months. What legislative changes can be planned to protect the staff and owners of local shops and convenience stores? The owners state that they are losing hundreds, if not thousands, of euro per week as a result of these crimes.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I might ask the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, to speak to him about it directly today. We all believe that shoplifting, larceny and such crimes should be taken seriously. It is not just a case of something being taken from a shop. It jeopardises businesses and, potentially, the employment of the people working in those businesses. In general, retailers operate off small margins, so just one or two items being taken might be the same as eliminating the margins from 20 or 30 items, thus putting the business under pressure, rendering it unable to pay bills it owes to others and making it unable to keep staff on. It is a serious offence and it is important that it is treated seriously.