In A Programme for a Partnership Government, it was announced that there would be an extra 1,100 members of the Garda. I welcome that this is happening throughout the country and in my own constituency. However, counties like Roscommon are far below where they were. We have lost five Garda stations and we still have a major issue with policing.

About two weeks ago in Strokestown, a daring robbery took place at the Bank of Ireland. At the time, it was a very frightening experience. It has now emerged - I do not know why it has not come out before now - that two young people, one of them with disabilities, were held hostage for quite some time. This is shocking.

While the efforts of local gardaí were outstanding, these guys got away. There is no sign of them and nothing has happened. I ask the Minister to look into exactly what happened and the full facts of the robbery. I ask him also to ensure we get more gardaí on the beat in all of our counties and towns, in particular Roscommon and Strokestown.

Not surprisingly, I do not have any evidence to assist Deputy Murphy along the lines of his plea. However, the Government is determined to ensure Garda recruitment continues apace. At the end of last year, we had succeeded in reaching our target of 13,500 gardaí. By the end of this year, that figure will have risen to 14,000 gardaí, many of whom will have been assigned to County Roscommon. I am happy to engage bilaterally with the Deputy on the point he raised about the distribution of gardaí, which is, of course, a matter for the Commissioner in the first instance.