FOLLOWING yesterday's discovery of the bodies of two elderly farmers in Galway and Kerry, farm organisations and opposition politicians last night criticised the Budget for failing to provide enough resources to, tackle rural crime.
The president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, Mr Frank Allen, said he was shocked by yesterday's discoveries.
"What Finance Minister, Ruairi Quinn, proposed in the Budget in relation to burglar alarms for the elderly will be confined to those who have a taxable income and who are over 65. The poorest of the elderly lose out on this measure as most of them do not have a taxable income," he said.
"The Budget has shown that the Government is not aware of the growing crime problem in rural Ireland".
He added that TDs should "wake up and speak out on the crime problems so that rural Ire land gets, the level of policing it deserves.
The president of the Irish Farmers Association, Mr John Donnelly, described yesterday's discoveries as "horrific".
Both organisations have been campaigning strongly for more resources for gardai in rural areas. They met the Minister for Justice two weeks ago to discuss the issue.
Fianna Fail's justice spokesman, Mr John O'Donoghue, said the Oranmore murder and the suspicious death in Kerry were further evidence of a crime wave sweeping the country.
But what is particularly disturbing about this latest spate of violence is the sheer viciousness of the attacks", he said.
While welcoming the Budget allocation of £3.7 million to prison building, Mr O'Donoghue said it was not enough to make any serious inroads into the problem of prison overcrowding.
"The money is just enough to keep the present prisons maintained. It will not go anywhere near providing the 210 prison places needed in Castlerea and Mountjoy."
Between £15 and £20 million is needed to fund those prisons, he said. "There is simply not enough space to hold prisoners any more. The message criminals are getting is that they will not suffer for their crimes. It is a very sad indictment of the our penal system today that people who are guilty of the most vile crimes can get early release."
"I think it is abundantly clear that there is an urgent need for a fundamental review of our criminal laws, so that Irish society can send a message to these criminals that their punishment will fit their crime.
"Measures could be taken to prevent these cowardly attacks on elderly people living alone. More resources for the gardai would mean that they could travel to remote areas in rural Ireland. There needs to be a greater Garda presence in these areas.
"Greater resources are also needed for the community alert scheme which is currently operating in some 700 areas around the country.
"But all of these measures are useless unless the perpetrators of these evil acts fully understand that if they commit an offence as horrific as these they will obtain neither early nor temporary release," he said.