McDowell must recruit extra gardaí

TO say Justice Minister Michael McDowell is long on promises but short on action would be a gross understatement.

Since he assumed office, he has promised nearly three dozen new bills but only one has been published and none enacted.

Of the Coalition’s many broken promises, the decision to long-finger recruitment of 2,000 extra gardaí is the most blatant betrayal of pledges made in its pre-election manifesto. Crime continues to rise on Mr McDowell’s watch. According to the latest official figures, overall crime is up 22%, assaults by 50%, sexual offences by 62% and homicides by 54%.