I raise the issue of the significant increase in the number of cars stolen throughout the State. We have seen a surge in Dublin 15 and Dublin 7 in particular. It is many years since I have seen joyriding and cars being burnt out on a such a scale. There is a solution, however. Most, if not all, of the cars are imported from Japan and have no alarms or immobilisers, making them incredibly vulnerable to theft. In Dublin 15, gardaí are dealing with this proactively by stopping people in those types of cars and warning them that their cars are vulnerable to attack. Would the Taoiseach support legislation that would ensure that cars imported into the country would have an alarm, an immobiliser and proper security measures to prevent their theft?

I am very much aware of this issue in the constituency the Deputy and I share. On the face of it, such legislation sounds like a good idea but we will have to look into it because we are part of the European Single Market and there are EU rules that supersede any national rules. We also have a trade deal with Japan and would have to make sure the legislation was compliant with that. It is certainly something we will give consideration to.