46. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the actions being taken to combat rural crime, including theft and burglary targeting farms and rural businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35444/26]

48. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for an update on his work in regard to rural policing and crime prevention in rural areas. [35481/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 46 and 48 together.

This Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities across the country. Rural crime covers a range of issues, ranging from burglary and theft, to animal crime and road traffic offences. An Garda Síochána are committed to tackling all these forms of crime.

Rural safety and community safety is not about policing alone of course – it requires a multi-agency, multi-sectoral and a whole-of-Government response.

The Rural Safety Plan 2025-2027 brings together and strengthens all of the various strands of work being carried out in relation to rural safety. It has been developed by my Department, in conjunction with the National Rural Safety Forum.

The Plan’s vision is to ensure people and communities in rural Ireland feel safe and are safe in their homes, places of work, and their local environments. It does this by identifying four key priority areas that we will focus on to achieve the overall goal. These areas are: Community Safety & Engagement, Property Crime, Roads Policing, and Animal & Wildlife Crime.

A number of Garda operations are already supporting the plan, such as Operations Thor and Táirige, which tackle burglaries and thefts from homes, and retail crime respectively.

In recent years, an Garda Síochána have had unprecedented success in reducing and preventing burglaries through Operation Thor.

In the 10 years since Operation Thor began, burglary and related offences have declined overall. The level of residential burglaries during the winter months, October to March, has fallen by a remarkable 75% since it started in 2015.

Under Operation Thor, the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau co-ordinates and supports Divisional resources with intelligence led-interventions that target organised crime gangs and repeat offenders, particularly involved in rural burglaries and crimes.

Gardaí conduct high-visibility patrols and check-points at specific times of day in known ‘hot-spots’ to reduce the movement of burglars, gathering intelligence on known offenders and regularly communicating with the public about crime prevention measures.

An Garda Síochána also provide the public with information and guidance on steps that can be taken by home owners to secure property and deter crime. The local Garda Crime Prevention Officers provide practical guidance to a range of people and businesses on deterring crime including burglary and theft.

The Programme for Government commits to publishing a Retail Crime Strategy with targeted actions to reduce retail crime and support affected businesses. Work on preparing this Strategy is well underway. Following engagement with the retail community officials are considering suggestions made and are also researching how other jurisdictions are tackling these matters.

The Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 provides for the establishment of Local Community Safety Partnerships (Safety Partnerships) within each local authority area. Each Local Community Safety Partnership is required to develop and implement its own tailored community safety plan.

The National Office for Community Safety is providing support and guidance to Safety Partnerships in the performance of their functions and to monitor the implementation of local community safety plans. Safety Partnerships once established, are independent, community-led bodies mandated to design tailored safety plans based on local priorities. They make their own decisions as to their day-to-day activity.

Queries relating to their work should be directed to the relevant Safety Partnership.

Contact details for Local Community Safety Partnerships are available at this link.

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