IFA seeking extra garda numbers to fight rural crime

IFA deputy president Brian Rushe is seeking a meeting with the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee for a commitment to increase Garda numbers to tackle rural crime.

Farmers across the country are dealing with the recurring problem of gangs of men with ‘lurcher’ dogs coming onto private lands and working farms, threatening livestock.

During a recent incident in Tipperary, a farmer close to his home encountered men with dogs ‘lamping on his land’. Their vehicle was blocking the lane and when he engaged with them, he was badly beaten and left concussed. His injuries included facial lacerations and fractured ribs.

As a result of these types of events, community meetings have been called around the country and hundreds of people have attended to express fears for their safety.

Over 250 farmers attended a meeting in Adare, Co. Limerick, last week.

“The meetings heard calls for additional Garda patrols and the need for more visibility of gardaí. Despite assurances that recruitment is ongoing, the failure to get enough replacements for those retiring is leading to gaps in resources,” he said.

Brian Rushe said the laws in relation to trespass must be changed and tied into the owners and occupiers’ liability insurance. Responding to the publication of the CSO Crime and Victimisation Report 2019, Mr Rushe said it highlighted the resources needed to tackle rural crime.

The figures reported in the CSO report are in line with other national reports.

“Illegal hunting and lurching is a major concern to farmers with trespass, criminal damage, animal worrying and intimidation the main issues associated with these activities,” he said.

IFA has been consistent in its call for greater visibility of An Garda Síochána, along with increased community policing and crime prevention initiatives.

“Increased Garda visibility, reporting of rural crime in the PULSE system, greater community engagement and quicker response times to crime are needed to address the concerns of the farming community and rural dwellers,” he said.

The IFA deputy president said he would continue to work on these issues through the National Rural Safety Forum, which he co-chairs with a senior member of An Garda Síochána.

The national chairperson of the IFA’s Farm Family and Social Affairs Committee says that despite the fact most garda stations are centralised it is important that people living in rural parts of the country have a garda presence in their area.

In December 2020, the IFA, together with An Garda Síochána and FBD, launched a printed information pack for its members across the country that provides tips on how farmers and the rural community can stay safe and secure in their homes, on their farms and online in the months ahead.

That initiative highlighted the need for vigilance in many areas with practical and straightforward information on safety, security, and general wellbeing as well as the importance of looking out for your friends, family and neighbours, and the information remains relevant and valid.

Speaking at the launch back in December 2020, Mr Rushe said: “When we entered 2020, we never imagined the year that lay ahead of us. Covid-19 has fundamentally changed the way we behave at home and on our farms.” Also at that launch, An Garda Siochana’s Assistant Commissioner Paula Hilman said: “As we navigate through the winter period together, I want to reassure you that we in An Garda Síochána are here to help, to work with communities to ensure the support you need is available.”

Speaking last week, Alice Doyle, the national chairperson of the IFA’s Farm Family and Social Affairs Committee, said that with most of the garda stations centralised in the big towns, they don’t see as much of the gardaí as they would like.

She said the IFA’s Farm Family and Social Affairs Committee is working with An Garda Síochána and she accepted gardaí were trying to improve communications with the rural community.

Community policing was one area where the IFA worked closely with the gardai, she said. Ms Doyle added: “We tried to open opportunities where the local community garda could meet with the local people, farmers and have a chat with them.”

She said what was important was that people could go to their local garda when they had a concern or were suspicious about something. “We do know that a lot of crime is not reported, and this is because a lot of people are not aware who their local garda is and find it hard to get to them because they are not in their local area and they have to go to the local big town to find them. It can be a case then that the garda is off on patrol and can’t be contacted at that time.”

She said IFA were working in association with DCU asking as many farmers as possible to fill in a survey where you are asked to identify what the problems are in your area, do you think there is enough policing in your area and if people want more visibility in terms of gardaí in their area.

She said it was important that farmers interact with the survey and fill it in as the information gleaned from that survey could then be used as factual statistics and brought to the attention of the gardaí and will show that farming and rural communities do need more gardaí in the community.

If people complete the survey, it will help identify the weaknesses there are in community policing and to improve the service being offered. Once the information is available and collated, it can be brought to the attention of Minister for Justice Helen McEntee.

IFA president Tim Cullinan said this week that farmers should be exempt from the concrete levy.

“Agflation is running at multiple times general inflation, so there’s huge frustration among farmers at the imposition of the 10% concrete levy as part of Budget 2023. This will further inflate the cost of doing business for farmers who are already dealing with a massive escalation in farm input costs,” he said.

Many farmers are required to install additional slurry and soiled water storage as part of the revised Nitrates Action Programme. Farmers are also choosing to invest in their farm infrastructure to reduce on-farm labour requirements and better utilise slurry due to the escalating cost of fertiliser. Tim Cullinan said the concrete levy is a strong disincentive for farmers to invest in improving their farming facilities. A very large proportion of farm buildings consists of concrete, meaning that farmers are going to be disproportionately impacted by this levy.

“We believe it is entirely justified that concrete used for farm construction, either in the form of precast or readymix, should be exempted from the levy.”

According to the CSO, over the past two years, the price of readymix concrete has increased by 25% while the price of precast concrete has increased by 35%. Farm construction costs have increased massively as a result, and the concrete levy will further fuel this inflation.

IFA Farm Business chair Rose Mary McDonagh said farmers have been hit with huge increases in building materials, some of which have risen by 50% in recent times. “The Government should be supporting farmers to invest on their farms, not adding significantly to its overall cost,” she said.