Call for driving bans for those ‘plundering’ rural areas

A Labour Party Senator has called for criminals targeting rural Ireland to be disqualified from driving.

Lorraine Higgins has called on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to invoke a law which allows for people who travel to carry out a crime to be banned from the road.

She said: "It is high time that charges are brought in by the DPP in the public interest to disqualify criminals from driving where there is evidence that they have used a mechanically propelled vehicle in the commission of that offence.

“This provision would be particularly pertinent to criminals who specialise in robbing and plundering rural Ireland.”

Ms Higgins said a section of the 1961 Road Traffic Act provides for this and it is her view this should be used.

She said the DPP must put forward charges of disqualification against every criminal using a car in the commission of their crime.

The Senator said: “If we are serious about combating rural crime it is imperative that we use the legal infrastructure in place to punish those who rob and plunder our rural communities.

“Crime in rural areas is more often than not perpetrated by opportunists or organised groups of criminals who, with intention, travel the countryside by car specifically targeting rural locations.

“Failing to impose harsh penalties on them and cutting off their accessibility to remote areas is ludicrous and offers no solace to people living in their homes in fear.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has admitted the issue of rural crime is not satisfactory.

He said the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner were in the process of compiling a new plan to deal with the issue.

Mr Kenny said a small number of people were responsible for a large number of burglaries in this country.