23 June 2005

Justice

Bicycle Theft

Ciarán Cuffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the action he will take to address the significant rise in bicycle theft; and the changes which are being put in place to tackle the issue.

Minister For Justice, Equality and Law Reform: I have been informed by the Garda authorities that a detective superintendent in the Dublin metropolitan region was tasked with examining the situation with regard to thefts of pedal cycles with a view to putting in place structured arrangements for the investigations of possible organised bicycle thefts.

I am further informed that local Garda management is deploying adequate resources to areas of high prevalence of this type of crime. In addition, crime prevention officers are being utilised to advise the public on necessary crime prevention measures in order to reduce the number of these incidents.