During the time allocated to Private Members' Business, the Regional Group raised the issue of the crisis in An Garda Síochána. I also wish to tackle this issue. I held a public meeting in County Meath last week on the issue. It was packed, with standing room only. Of the many people who attended, there were ordinary people and workers in the community and the stories they told were incredible. The situations included where women working in shops and retail outlets were being threatened with rape or sexual assault if they went to the Garda to identify people stealing in those areas, as well as people afraid to walk to the shops and places of work, and only getting lifts to and from those locations.

It was also said that criminal gangs were undertaking slow-motion crime sprees through the towns, breaking into shop after shop over 90 minutes, with a real feeling of impunity and immunity against the Garda tackling them, or having the ability to tackle them, or even having to go to court. One of the things I could not believe, and one of the issues new to me, is that so many people were afraid to get involved in prosecutions against the criminals involved in this type of mayhem. This was because they felt they would expose themselves to further threats and difficulties in the future.

There was a sense that younger criminals, especially, felt they would never go to jail; that they could have multiple convictions - 20, 30 or 40 - and still not see any jail time at all.

There is no doubt in my mind that we have reached a tipping point in many villages, towns and cities in this country in terms of the level of crime and antisocial behaviour that is happening. The figures back this up. The incidence of rape and sexual assault has doubled in the past 15 years in this State. The murder rate has significantly increased this year. Violent crime is on the increase in towns and villages. This is happening because we have a Garda force that is on its knees at the moment. There is a direct correlation between the damage that is being done to the Garda and the increase in crime and antisocial behaviour that has been happening over the past number of years. I took no pleasure in saying to the Minister for Justice today that for every year she has been in office, there has been a decrease in the number of gardaí in the State. We currently have one of the lowest numbers of police per capita in Europe. Gardaí are being physically attacked in their hundreds every year. They are resigning and retiring in their hundreds every year. There has been a collapse in the number of new recruits coming into Templemore and a collapse in morale. The Government does not have their back. When will the Government have the back of gardaí on the beat and make sure they are protected from the level of assault they are receiving? Garda welfare is a key element of the issues gardaí have with the Minister for Justice at the moment.

This is a Government that is tough on crime. It is a Government that is building stronger and safer communities. How are we doing it? We are doing it in four ways. We are increasing Garda resources. The Garda budget is €2 billion for this year, which is the highest ever, and it will be higher again for next year. Contrary to what the Deputy said, we recruited between 700 and 800 gardaí this year and, in addition, 400 Garda staff. We will see Garda numbers stabilising this year and rising again next year. They peaked back in 2021, let us not forget, which is not that long ago. We still have more gardaí today than we had five years ago. We are also introducing tougher laws, with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, making provision for stronger and longer sentences for serious crimes against individuals. We are increasing the number of prison places. If we want hardened criminals who are a threat to society to serve their sentences, we need to do the maths and see we need more prison places. The Minister has plans afoot to increase the number of prison places by 600. We are also dealing with the root causes of crime by developing community safety partnerships, which is a major innovation introduced by the Minister and now being piloted in various parts of the country. We want to extend that initiative across the nation.

First, this is a Government that is plainly weak on crime and weak on the causes of crime, to borrow the British Labour Party's mantra. The Government and the Minister for Justice have been distracted by the culture wars and have forgotten about the bread-and-butter issues that are currently affecting so many people in this country. In my county of Meath, there is a stretch from Enfield to Oldcastle to Nobber on which only six gardaí are available on a Saturday night. The nearest back-up garda is located 40 minutes away from them. That leaves those gardaí incredibly exposed in dealing with the difficulties they have. The Government needs to state clearly that those who purposely injure a garda will see time in jail, that is, a custodial sentence. There must be a minimum sentence for those who attack or physically harm a garda. Second, we need to ensure the terms, conditions and pay of gardaí will improve to make the job attractive in order that young men and women will take up posts in the force. Until those two things are done, we will see this crisis continue in communities throughout the country.

I agree with the Deputy about garda safety. It is really important that everyone, not just our gardaí, feels safe at work. That extends to members of all our uniformed services, teachers, nurses and people working in our health service, who often face the risk of violence. It is particularly the case when it comes to our gardaí. That is why the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has led the charge on providing body-worn cameras for gardaí, which is really important for their protection, and making sure there are improvements in the equipment they have.

I am not sure what the Deputy really means by "culture wars". If anyone is distracted by them, it probably is him and not the Minister. I know the Minister from the time she was working in this building as a personal assistant to her father. I know her number one priority as Minister has been cracking down on domestic and gender-based violence. If we look at the murder and manslaughter statistics for this year, they are not because of gangland crime; they are women being killed by men they know.

The situation is getting worse.

The fact the Minister has made this a priority shows how serious she is about the serious crime of domestic and gender-based violence.