2026-04-28

133. Deputy Michael Murphy asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment his assessment of the recent escalation in retail crime, including theft, organised shoplifting and related antisocial behaviour; the impact this is having on small and family-run retailers, particularly in terms of financial loss, increased operating costs and staff safety concerns; the specific measures, supports or interventions being developed by his Department to assist affected businesses, including with insurance and security costs; the nature of engagement under way with representative bodies and other relevant Departments, including those responsible for justice and policing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24948/26]

I thank the Deputy for his question. The Government fully recognises the significant harm caused by retail crime, which not only impacts retailers and retail employees but also has broader consequences for local communities and the national economy. Theft, organised shoplifting and associated antisocial behaviour are not victimless crimes and directly affect businesses' viability, staff safety and community confidence. I am acutely aware retailers are facing real financial losses, including rising insurance and security costs, and have deep concerns around the personal safety of staff, many of whom are working alone or at late hours. For small independent retailers in particular, a single incident can have a real impact on weekly profits, or worse. The issue is being taken very seriously by the Government. The programme for Government makes an explicit a commitment on retail crime, including the development of the retail crime strategy, which is being led by my colleague the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, in the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. Over the past years, we have met officials from both Departments and have engaged extensively with retailers and representative bodies at the retail forum to understand at first hand the scale, patterns and consequences of retail crime. Operationally, An Garda Síochána has established Operation Táirge to specifically target organised retail crime and Garda management has briefed the retail forum on its progress. I welcome the strong focus on intelligence-led enforcement but also the increased visibility of Garda members in crime black spots and the disruption of repeat offenders. From my Department's perspective, we are also acting to support retailers through enterprise supports. We will establish access to grants and have engagement on insurance and regulatory burdens, but that will be done through the cost of doing business advisory forum. We will continue to work on this matter and shortly will have the publication of the action plan on retail crime.

The reality on the ground is stark. Retail crime is no longer sporadic; it is systematic. We are seeing organised shoplifting, repeat offenders and a growing sense among retailers that there is little deterrence and few consequences. For small and family-run businesses, retail crime leads to lost income, rising insurance and security costs, and in many cases fear among staff going to work. I hear directly from retailers that feel they are being asked to absorb the cost of crime themselves and that cannot be acceptable because right now the perception, and increasingly the reality, is that retail crime does pay.

I thank the Deputy for his contribution. All retail workers deserve to go to work without fear and business owners deserve the protections of the livelihoods they have built. That is why we are very much focused on the retail crime strategy. It is well advanced and will include specific, targeted measures including prevention, enforcement and support for affected businesses. Operationally, An Garda Síochána has rolled out Operation Táirge, which has been successful. We have seen more disruption, arrests and prosecutions in many crime black spots, but we need to continue to redouble our efforts because retail crime needs to be confronted. It cannot be normalised and we need to work with retailers and their employees to ensure it is stamped out for good.

We need to do everything we can to support our retailers. They are the real heroes at the local level due to the extent to which they hire locally, spend locally and invest locally. Those same retailers tell me that the offenders are well known. Incidents are frequent and brazen and the system is simply not responding at the pace required. We cannot let the situation continue whereby honest businesses invest, employ people and contribute to their communities while others repeatedly break the law with little fear of consequence. What immediate actions, not long-term plans, will be taken in the next three to six months? Critically, who is taking ownership of this matter across government?

As I said, the retail crime strategy is being worked through at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. It is being led out by the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan. I have had extensive engagement with him and his officials. We have held a round-table meeting with many retailers, who were representatives of the retail forum. We want to ensure that strategy has concrete interventions and that these can be delivered within the term of the Government. It is a programme for Government commitment. We want to see this being worked through and we will, within the Department of enterprise, continue to support that over the months ahead.