Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) (Amendment) (Work Equipment) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-18
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Gareth Scahill (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach

I, too, commend Senators Murphy, Duffy and Kennelly on this Bill. It is a very topical issue at the moment. As all my colleagues have said this evening, the punishment must fit the crime. If the Minister did not have access to his legal briefs and staff and if the Cathaoirleach did not have access to the clock, bell and mallet, where would we be? What delays would we be looking at? As the previous speaker mentioned, delays in tradespeople completing their work only add to the national issue we have in trying to deliver housing for the population.
I have regularly spoken in this House about apprenticeships and the need to attract more apprentices into the sector in trying to build on the number of apprentices we have. One of the previous speakers said that the loss of an investment of €2,000 to 3,000 at an early stage in that training process could put somebody off completing their studies and continuing that work. All of these are very important issues and that is something Senator Murphy has addressed in the creation of this Bill.
To go back over this, the only research we have is some research that was done by Chadwicks back in 2023. It found that 71% of tradespeople have had their tools stolen, and 22% do not mark their tools to help them identify them, which means they do not generally get the tools back, even if the Garda has identified them. An Garda Síochána has a property app. If we do nothing else with this Bill this evening, we should try to encourage tradespeople across the country to download that app, record and photograph their items, take note of their serial numbers and store them on the app on their phones. It would be a great thing to come out of tonight. Some 35% have had their tools stolen in excess of a value of €3,000, and 62% of respondents to that survey had to delay jobs because of the theft of tools. That is the one we should be most worried about at the moment. We would not accept it in any other area. We would try to address it. It is to be hoped with this Bill that it can be addressed. Those who steal the tools of someone's trade are effectively stealing their income and the system must reflect the seriousness of that crime. As Senator Byrne said, the punishment must be proportionate to the crime that has been committed. I commend the Senators who brought this Bill forward and I fully support it. I look forward to the Minister's words.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-18