Justice minister says 'no facts' back up claim that increased migration leads to rising crime rates
Justice Buildings A Brieifng For Minister Helen Dublin During Press Mcentee Government At Td
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said that there is a false perception in Irish society that crime is on the rise because of increased levels of migration in this country.
In an interview on Newstalk today, Ms McEntee said that “no facts” exist to back up such a view.
“When a person comes in to the country, we present our passport and we are checked against a particular system. So if somebody is coming through and seeking international protection, well that is no different. When they apply for asylum there is a further round of checks.
"There is a perception out there that people are coming in with criminal backgrounds that we don't know about. And that somehow crime is increasing because of the people that are coming in.
"There are simply no facts to back that up. None whatsoever. There is certainly not an increase and there is certainly not a correlation between the increasing numbers (of people) that we've seen in the last two years and an increase in crime. That is very clear.”
Ms McEntee said that we have to move away from the perception that if somebody comes here seeking protection “we are automatically going to assume the worst.”
"Our natural instinct is to provide protection and to support people but it is challenging at the moment because of the number of people that are suddenly arriving where we have only had smaller number in years gone by.”
Meanwhile, she expressed satisfaction with the pace of investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for committing arson attacks on buildings linked to asylum seeker accommodation.
“I don’t think there is any time period by which you can set a clock and say ‘this must be concluded.’ Arson is an extremely serious offence but it is also a very high bar if you want to bring forward a prosecution. So gardaí have to painstakingly go through whatever evidence they have whether its CCTV or witness insight or any type of evidence and make sure that when they go to the DPP they have as strong evidence as possible.
"There have been twelve arrests in relation to a number of different offences. This is an extremely serious crime.”
Ms McEntee said would-be perpetrators ought to realise that there is a penalty up to life in prison for arson.
“But even somebody who vandalises a property and thinks ‘well I am making a protest I don’t agree with this' …it is up to ten years (in prison).”