Reopening Garda stations
Willie O’Dea asked when six closed Garda stations would reopen and how locations would be selected; the Minister said the Garda Commissioner would choose them and promised to seek a timeline.
There is a commitment in the programme for Government to reopen six Garda stations that were closed by the previous Government on a pilot basis.
Will the Minister indicate when those six stations will be operational and who will select them? Will it be the Minister or the Commissioner? Where will the stations be located - in urban or rural areas? If the pilot is successful, is it the Government's intention to continue to reopen other stations that were wrongly closed down by the previous Minister for Justice and Equality, the former Deputy Alan Shatter?
Comment on this
It is my understanding that such a selection would be made by the Garda Commissioner. Obviously, as it is a pilot, the lessons learned will be assessed in terms of the implications for the best interests of policing in our communities. I am not in a position to give a timeline but I will ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to convey that to the Deputy.