40 Mr. Connolly asked the Minister for Justice when she will provide a new Garda station, with all modern facilities, at Tullamore, County Offaly, to operate as the headquarters for the county in view of the overcrowded conditions and lack of facilities in the existing premises. [19154/95]

It is proposed to build an extension and carry out major refurbishment work to the existing Garda station at Tullamore thereby providing much needed additional accommodation to the standard which is in keeping with a modern district headquarters.

It is my objective to have all Garda station accommodation brought up to an acceptable standard within the minimum possible timescale. However, the Deputy will appreciate that, given available resources, each project must be addressed within the context of overall priorities throughout the country. It is not possible to say when work will commence at Tullamore but I can assure the Deputy that there will be no avoidable delay.