‘Significant rise’ in burglaries targeting the elderly in south Dublin, cautions councillor
South Dublin has seen a “significant increase” in burglaries targeting the elderly, according to a councillor.
“Crime data does show a significant increase and we’re witnessing more burglaries. Unfortunately, this is particularly more with the older generation,” said Palmerstown-Fonthill councillor Niamh Fennell at a South Dublin County Council (SDCC) meeting this week.
“This was noticed in a recent community safety forum which I was in attendance of – we’ve seen more older people becoming victims of burglaries and crimes.”
Cllr Fennell raised a motion calling for the reestablishment of the Door Lock Scheme or Home Security Scheme which helps replace existing locks with high-security, anti-snap locks for older, vulnerable residents living alone in the county.
“I’ve asked for a timeline on when the discussion around the scheme will take place and approximately how much it would cost to subsidise this scheme,” said cllr Fennell.
The motion was passed with councillors Yvonne Collins and Emma Murphy also calling for the scheme to be reinstated.
“We agree to look at this, it’s a good initiative – we will look at everything in terms of timeline to progress it in the new year,” said Lorna Maxwell, SDCC’s Director of Finance.
Councillor Murphy told the Irish Independent that the Door Lock Scheme was successful between 2017 to 2019 when it was introduced in the county. It was later discontinued due to a contractual issue, she noted.
“I think the scheme should be extended to windows as well – we have an ageing population in the county that responded very well to it and we need to be reinvesting in them,” she said.
“Older people in the county are still vulnerable – the scheme didn’t stop originally because crime went down, it was because of our inability to implement it.
“Older residents are likely to have windows or doors over 20 or 25 years old. We can upgrade them for security reasons. It’s about prevention and to give them some extra security and support.
“There’s not many measures we have in place where we can support older residents who are not council tenants – this scheme can be availed by older people that own their own homes.”
This Friday the newly formed Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP) will meet for the first time where seven selected councillors will engage with community and law enforcement representatives on community safety.
It will be the first such meeting to take place in over a year after the Department of Justice announced it was replacing monthly Joint Policing Committees – a forum for councillors, businesses and An Garda Síochána to discuss local security matters.
“The new community LCSP will meet for the first time this week. Since the abolition of the JPC, we haven’t had that tangible link between the guards, the community and the council,” said cllr Murphy.
“I’m interested to see what we will hear from our garda counterparts – and see how we can help vulnerable constituents going forward.”