Meath East Garda station resources
Deputy Munster said constituents felt abandoned by under-resourced Garda services and a part-time station in east Meath. The Minister said there was significant investment and plans for a 24-hour response, but she had no dates for changes.
I am glad the Minister for Justice is here. I will raise the sense of abandonment my constituents in Meath East feel with regard to Garda resources. As the Minister will know, there is a Garda station there that is not fit for purpose and which is only manned from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. despite the fact that there is a population of more than 32,000 in the area. The Garda Commissioner's office has said that the Office of Public Works, OPW, is preparing proposals but my constituents in Meath East are asking whether we have a date for when the Garda station will be fully resourced, fully manned and open on a full-time basis, and when the Meath East area will be brought into the Drogheda Garda division. We are coming into winter, when we always see an increase in the number of burglaries and other crimes, and my constituents feel abandoned. Do we have a date for when they will see a fully resourced and fully complete Garda station brought under the Drogheda division?
Comment on this
I stress that there has been a great amount of focus and priority placed on not only the Drogheda area, but an area extending into east Meath. Through the Vivian Guerin report, there has been a great amount of investment in our communities and supporting the Garda across Louth and even into the east Meath area. The Garda Commissioner has visited a number of stations in the area the Deputy has mentioned and there are plans afoot to ensure that we have a 24-hour response and the services that people require. However, I do not have dates for any changes or information on when or where resources are going to be put in place. That is a matter for the Garda Commissioner but I assure the Deputy that this Government and I are absolutely committed to increasing the Garda workforce, including both Garda members and staff. Some 11,000 people applied to a recruitment campaign and the interviews, fitness tests and everything else that needs to happen to get those candidates through Templemore and into places like east Meath, Drogheda and all of the surrounding areas are under way.