Crime is an incredibly serious issue that many of us are dealing with at the minute. Yesterday in my own constituency, 20 pipe bombs were found in a ditch behind a property in Ardee. This happened after great work by An Garda Síochána in relation to a significant drugs find. It shows the reality on the ground, particularly when combined with an incident last Friday in Ardee in the early hours of the morning between 4 a.m. and 4.40 a.m. Gardaí are looking for information because a garda on routine patrol was injured in a hit-and-run incident. That case has moved on and our thoughts are with that garda. It shows the reality that gardaí are dealing with at the minute. I would also like to bring up the issue in relation to assaults and arson in north Louth.

My question relates to the community safety partnerships. A lot of us like the idea of gardaí, councillors and all of the necessary stakeholders being involved but there are issues relating to the membership and how the partnerships are going to operate. If action needs to be taken, it should be taken quickly in relation to how they are going to operate. That needs to happen as soon as possible. The problem is that the joint policing committees, as imperfect as they were, are not sitting in County Louth right now. We can all have ad hoc relationships with gardaí and others, but at the end of the day these are necessary forums. We need to have an interim solution with the JPCs and then make sure we have a finalised, operating, fit-for-purpose system in the form of community safety partnerships.

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. While I am not aware of the specific details, I join the Deputy in sending my best wishes to that member of An Garda Síochána. As the Deputy says, all of these incidents are harsh and real reminders of the dangers that gardaí face when they put themselves in harm's way to keep the rest of us safe. I am very grateful to all members of An Garda Síochána for their service.

I am a big fan of the community safety partnerships for the reasons the Deputy has outlined. They bring everybody together and recognise that while gardaí have a role to play, so too do the councils, the HSE and lots of other parts of society. They involve pulling everyone together to draw up a plan to make communities safer and to have that buy-in is important. I will ask the Minister for Justice to reflect on the particular comments Deputy Ó Murchú made today in relation to Louth, the membership and that interim gap and to respond to him directly.