So Prime Time done a piece this evening on retail crime and how its only getting worse and how

Join the future early. Create a store with only touchscreens showing what's available, they select it (or pre-purchase en-route to the store) and they get handed the items through a container built into thief proof glass. No products on shelves to rob, can't be robbed. I wonder how those Amazon stores are getting on...

Start with education. For example, Prime time “did” a piece ….

And there's no room in the jails. We need to build more.

It's almost impossible to accuse someone of or check for this, even if it's blatant (and could then be a trap to sue for defamation) and even when convicted, there will usually be no time served with the fine not covering the costs and likely to be unpaid anyway.

ireland Is one of the best country’s in the world to be a criminal .

Judges who would believe any yarn about you , free legal aid solicitors who have no morals , too few prisons , too few diligent guards & a heap of politicians who excuse criminals to suit some left wing idiology.

You get a decent core welfare package and as good as free house from the tax payers, dont ever work yourself , shoplift what you need , rob houses and sell drugs and a few accident claims then to pay for holidays , new cars/vans , lavish communion party’s , massive headstones and laugh at the law abiding going to work !

Because we have been doing that for decades, better facilities, free houses, youth diversion projects costing billions, role models in the form of team leaders. Better education, you can't get them to go to school, its better craic and cooler to go robbing and scutting.

So we do more of it because it has been working very well so far, hasn't it?

Classic boards response. Take their welfare!!!! Because leaving them destitute would mean they never steal again.

Classic leftie response, all outrage and no practical solutions.

The criminal justice system is failing to mitigate against these issues so without building more prisons for these people to be locked up in how exactly do issues like this get dealt with?

Welfare should only be provided with the condition that social compact is upheld.

This isn't 2009, jobs are available to people claiming welfare if they wish to look take up employment, but guess what? They don't want to. So if they're breaking the law take away their welfare and force them to work.

As others have stated, Ireland is a fantastic country to be a criminal, it's a legitimate career choice, that needs to change.

What's your solution to this issue then?

A few lashes might sort them out and no, not fake eye lashes either. For those that have multiple convictions.

seriously though, the problem is that there is no punishment for disregarding the law, and it’s not just scrotes look at that Burke fella, literally doesn’t do anything he’s been told to do, even by a judge and what happens? He’s become a celebrity. Only in Ireland.

Parental supports require a buy in from parents. Typically they need to get up off their arses and go somewhere to avail of them.

Councillors the same thing.

Career guidance for young people in environments where nobody has a job is a bit of a hail Mary also.

These approaches also ignore the vast numbers of adult criminals who will continue to offend while the younger generation is slowly steered away from a life of crime.

I appreciate the requirement for holistic approaches but there's also a need to de-incentivise criminality for those who are currently engaged in criminality.

The two need to happen in tandem.

Unleash the social workers.

ok but no irish government is going to allow social welfare to be docked any time soon. take money off a shoplifting woman on the scratcher who has 2 kids at home to feed. like we have to be realistic.

If you actually look at the show it wasn’t the woman with the 2 kids that is causing the problems.

Finish off Thornton Hall, American Super Max style. We don't need to lock people up like in America. We need to start with short sharp shocks, rather than slap on the wrist clocking up another conviction.

It is demoralising for everyone evolved (public, shopkeepers, Garda etc) to have to put up with a small number of out of control people.

Except Ireland hasn't been doing any of that, not by a long shot. Housing estates are uniformly dreary affairs, shoved into every corner without any thought wasted on services in the area, walled off from their surroundings and without access to amenities. If you don't have a car, you're screwed. Public spaces, where they exist, have been sanitized to the degree where there are no places for kids to sit down and hang out, often being no more than empty open areas filled with either grass or pavement. There are virtually no activities available for teenagers apart from GAA or other team sports, I haven't seen any youth centers worth their name, certainly none that operate without some sort of ulterior agenda. As for schools, they continue to be contaminated by numerous religious orders and organizations, often staffed with teachers that are in no way qualified for their jobs, under resourced as well as being extremely tightly regimented in their curriculum, doing little if anything to actually engage with students. This is also borne out by wider society, where getting a proper education is seen as something to be mocked and derided, not celebrated.

Then, there's the societal issues. To put it bluntly, there's no sense of community in this country beyond platitudes. Ireland is suffering from the same epidemic of pathological individualism and a misplaced sense of superiority that is already destroying the US and the UK. Everyone only cares about themselves and doesn't give a flying f**k about anyone outside of their immediate family. Where there is "civic" engagement, it is usually to prevent something from being developed, the ongoing protests against increased cycling facilities, public transport projects, flood defenses and similar initiatives are a clear indication of this. And even if an initiative gets wide support, such as increasing capacity in the prison system or hiring more gardaí, no one is willing to pay even a single cent in extra taxes to finance these measures. Instead, all you'll hear is hysterical screaming that [INSERT UNPOPULAR GROUP HERE] should foot the bill as they're getting too much money anyway.

Sure, there's a definite argument to be made that the Irish law enforcement and judicial systems are too soft. There's definitely a need for a more aggressive attitude towards prosecuting offenders, there need to be minimum sentences introduced, but these measures alone will not solve the issue. Ireland as a society is thoroughly dysfunctional and barring a complete replacement of the political leadership, the civil service and of significant parts of the population, I can't see how this will change anytime soon.

...so if you rob something cause you cant afford it, you should somehow pay more for it, hows that gonna work?

....filling up prisons will definitely resolve these issues, definitely!

....oh and when you stress your society to the point a growing number of people are unable to adequately meet some of their critical of needs, housing, health care etc etc, crime increases, maybe we should start there!

If their income is coming from the state then its a free house.

Are you saying Leo Varadkar has a free house?

Crime affects everyone.

The problem with out current jails is the staff to prisoner ratio. That is why I mentioned American Super Max style, minimal staff are required. In saying that I dont want is jails to become a profit making industry or a long term solution like in the states.

They dont want to make that work. If they are really stuck come to me. i'll have the two systems linked by the morning.