In a letter to Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, the Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice extended an invitation for them to appear before the committee to address the increase in arson attacks on abandoned properties, reports RTE.
Protesters set fire to Honeywood, a seven-bedroom dormer home located in Leixlip, County Kildare, early yesterday morning, causing significant damage.
In order to make sure that gardaí and the Department of Justice have the resources necessary to bring offenders to justice, Chair James Lawless stated that he wanted Mr. Harris and Ms. McEntee to appear before the committee.
The Fianna Fáil TD for Kildare North told RTÉ’s News at One: “Arson under Section 2 of the Criminal Damage Act 1991 is already an offence carrying up to a life sentence – so we don’t need new laws, we need to implement laws that we have,” reports RTE.
“I want to see prosecutions, investigations, detections. We know it takes time. This needs to be nipped in the bud … somebody could be killed – that’s the next thing that’s going to happen,” he added, reports RTE.
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