Fine Gael has issued 30,000 questionnaires to households in Limerick, the constituency of its leader, Mr Michael Noonan TD, in an attempt to gauge urban voters' feelings on crime.
Mr Noonan said yesterday that if the party was in the next government it would be advocating a policy of having more garda∅ on the beat.
"What people are saying to me is that they do not see guards like they used to. People would be much happier if garda∅ had a higher visibility on the street."
Asked if he had fears of creating an over-regulated society, he said the party would not necessarily be increasing the number of garda∅, currently almost 12,000.
Limerick East joins Limerick West, Cork South Central, Clare and Roscommon in having questionnaires circulated, similar to ones issued in four Dublin constituencies to find out the "true extent" of crime. The questionnaire asks respondents if their homes have been burgled or vandalised, whether their car has been stolen or had items stolen from it, or whether anyone in the household has been a crime victim.
Mr Noonan said yesterday that fear of crime had emerged as a major concern and there were massive discrepancies between official Garda figures and crime-related accident and emergency admissions to hospitals.
Households are asked on the questionnaire whether they report crimes, how safe they feel walking the city streets and whether they are concerned for the safety of teenage children at night. In August, the party received the results of the first of its surveys - in Dublin South - when more than 95 per cent of 246 respondents stated the city centre was not safe after dark and that garda∅ needed more resources.
Meanwhile in Limerick, which ranks seventh in the national league table for indictable crimes rates per head of population, the responses to the questionnaires are expected over the coming weeks. According to the 1999 figures, Limerick, with 18.35 indictable crimes (meriting a trial by jury) per 1,000 people, is behind Dublin and Cork and only slightly ahead of Galway. However, unpublished figures for this year show that in the first six months Limerick had 79 "assaults causing harm" compared to Galway's 42, Cork's 92 and Dublin's 448.