Housing policy ‘adds to crime problem’

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell has blamed poor housing policy for playing a major role in the “peculiar crime pattern” which has affected Limerick over the past decade.

Mr McDowell said “mistaken decisions” had been made in the past in relation to the geography of the city from a social and housing perspective.

He claimed the ghettoisation of parts of the city which had resulted from bad housing policy had contributed to Limerick’s unenviable crime record.

“There has been a failure to mix housing policy properly so as to achieve communities where there is a fair cross section of society,” said Mr McDowell.

However, reacting to criticism by the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors about Garda resources, the minister said garda manpower in Limerick was at a record high with the number of officers in the city now standing at around 460, compared to 420 about six years ago.

He also repeated his plans to increase the overall size of the force from its current strength of 11,850 to 12,200 as soon as possible.

“I am confident that Limerick is well resourced at the moment in which to confront its crime problem,” he said.

The minister said the installation of a CCTV in the city centre was another priority. He also issued an appeal to the people who had abducted the Ryan brothers to allow them to return home safely.

“Whatever grievances people may have with one another, there is never ever any circumstance in which it is legitimate to imprison someone else and to torture their family in the way it is being done,” Mr McDowell said.

The minister also expressed hope that the perpetrators of the crime would realise how insane and cruel their actions were.

He pledged that whatever garda and other security resources which were required would be provided to ensure the two brothers were returned safely to their family.

Mr McDowell also praised the management of the force by Chief Supt James Kelly in Limerick in combating organised crime in the city.

“I have no doubt he will confront this issue and get on top of it,” he said.

However, the minister acknowledged that senior officers, from an operational point of view, often found it frustrating to have to assign gardaí to escort duties for prisoners and mental patients.

He added: “We need to make sure to get maximum use of gardaí, rather than tying them up in administrative tasks.”