Saggart policing and consultation
Deputy Ward raises concerns about the State's IPAS centre in Saggart and says residents want high-visibility policing after having been excluded from consultation. The Tánaiste says he will follow up with the Minister for Justice about the community's requests.
As the Tánaiste is aware, Saggart is the location of a State-owned IPAS centre. This was purchased by the State without any meaningful consultation with residents or Opposition TDs. Sinn Féin submitted an amendment to the recent International Protection Act for community consultation but the Government opposed this. Any area that has seen an increase in population like Saggart will see pressure on existing facilities. One of the measures that people in Saggart have been calling for is high-visibility policing. I welcome the recent announcement of the high-visibility programme in parts of Dublin and across the country, but residents of Saggart were extremely disappointed that they were not included in this programme. I submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister for justice that were ruled out of order, stating that the Minister has no responsibility for these actions, which I find a bit bizarre. What the residents of Saggart are looking for is a safe well-managed village environment for everybody in Saggart to enjoy and they are calling for high-visibility policing for Saggart and the surrounding areas. Is this something that Government can support?
Comment on this
The Minister for justice is not accountable in terms of where gardaí are deployed, which is only my best guess as to why that question would have been ruled out of order but, of course, the Government has an active interest in policing, Garda numbers and working with communities. I am very conscious that the community in Saggart - good decent people in Saggart - have asked Government for a number of investments in differences in their community, with high-visibility policing being just one. I will certainly follow that up with the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and ask him to come back directly to the Deputy.