The Garda Commissioner has been asked to consider setting up a dedicated unit to combat the practice of cattle rustling recently.
Reports of stealing cattle have recently emerged in a number of counties including County Tiopperary and a number of butchered carcasses have been discovered in Co Louth.
In response, Laois Offaly TD Charlie Flanagan has made the request to the Garda Commissioner saying many farmers are fearful that their livestock will be stolen in the middle of the night and that raids seem well planned and executed.
The Fine Gael Chairman said that the benefit of such a unit would be two-fold in that the gardaí could gather intellegence of the criminal gangs involved while monitoring rural areas with greather emphasis on night time patrols
