The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, has defended his record in combating crime following publication of a Fine Gael survey which showed nine out of 10 people believed it was unsafe to walk in Dublin city centre at night.
Mr O'Donoghue said reported crime had dropped by 25 per cent nationally since he came to office and by almost 50 per cent in the region where the Fine Gael survey had been conducted. The number of indictable offences had fallen from 11,958 in 1996 to 6,096 in 1999, he said.
A survey of residents in the Dublin South constituency, conducted by the Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr Alan Shatter, found growing public concern on crime issues and 99 per cent support for an increased Garda presence on the beat.
Responses by 246 residents to a circular distributed by Mr Shatter last May reflected the findings of other recent surveys which showed that crime is now the main concern of voters.
Some 99 per cent of those who replied to Mr Shatter believed Dublin city centre was an unsafe place in which to walk at night, and this figure fell to 61 per cent in relation to their own neighbourhood.
Casual street violence caused 99 per cent of parents to worry that their teenaged children might be assaulted at night, and 78 per cent were concerned they might be induced into experimenting with drugs.
Mr O'Donoghue said there were now 11,700 members of the Garda Siochana, compared with 10,800 four years ago, and the force would reach 12,000 by the end of 2002.
A combination of tough legislation, a 48 per cent increase to the Garda budget and an additional 1,200 prison spaces to ensure criminals served their full sentences had helped to cause the unprecedented drop in the crime rate, he said.
"From the very beginning of its taking office, this Government has given clear priority to tackling crime, and we will continue to do so . . . Deputy Shatter and his colleagues may well be startled by the fact that people want to see more gardai on the beat. That simply demonstrates how out of touch they are with ordinary people.
"It is clear that the Government realised people's concerns long ago, and that is why the Garda Siochana is being expanded to unprecedented levels," Mr O'Donoghue said.