Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan has said he has no plans to change current laws around trespassing on farmland, saying that the current legislation is "robust".

The minister was responding to a number of parliamentary questions from Fianna Fáil Tipperary North TD Ryan O'Meara.

O'Meara had asked Minister O'Callaghan if he would review the effectiveness of existing criminal trespass legislation as it applies to agricultural land, including deliberate and repeated entry where the statutory threshold for an offence under the current laws may not be met.

The deputy also asked if the minister would consider a "narrowly defined offence targeting deliberate, harmful, unauthorised entry".

Minister O'Callaghan responded by saying that "there is robust legislation in place with regard to trespass and therefore I have no plans to change the law in this regard".

"The general legal position is that trespass is a civil wrong and for the most part can be addressed by means of a civil remedy," the minister added.

The minister pointed out that the there are provisions covering illegal trespass in the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act.

He said that legislation allows gardaí to direct trespassers to leave the land concerned and remove any object belonging to them from the occupied land.

A person who is guilty of an offence under this part of the act is liable on summary conviction to a fine of up to €4,000 or a term of imprisonment of up to one month, or both.

The act also makes it an offence for a person to enter a building or the vicinity of a building as a trespasser with the intention of committing an offence or interfering with property.

A person who is guilty of an offence under this section of the act is liable on summary conviction to a fine of up to €2,500, or imprisonment for a term of up to 6 months, or both.

The law also makes it an offence for a person, without reasonable excuse, to trespass on a building or in the vicinity of a building in such a manner as causes or is likely to cause fear in another person.

According to Minister O'Callaghan, incidents of trespass reported to the gardaí "are subject to thorough investigation and receive the utmost attention".

He said it it was one of his priorities to increase garda numbers and visibility across the country, "including in rural areas".

The minister also cited a reduction in residential burglaries since the launch of An Garda Síochána's anti-burglary operation, Operation Thor, in 2015.

Minister O'Callaghan said that this operation has "a strong focus on rural areas", and, following its introduction, the level of recorded residential burglaries during winter months "has fallen by a remarkable 75%".