Rural Garda station closures
Senator Landy warns that Garda closures are leaving rural communities unsafe and asks for urgent deployment of budgeted vehicles before further barracks are closed.
I have read Peter Bacon's report and it certainly makes a convincing argument for the retention in State ownership of Coillte.
I wish to add my voice to the sympathy expressed in recent days on the death of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe. Mindful of the period encompassing his death and funeral, I have not spoken on the issue of Garda resources but will do so now in a very straight manner. I acknowledge the concern and fear being expressed and experienced by the communities in rural Ireland in which I live and represent, namely, those of County Tipperary. A number of Garda stations within my community have been closed, including Grangemockler, where my father was born and reared, and up the road at New Inn.
I believe the present Administration has pursued a policy of modernisation of the Garda Síochána the wrong way around. It should first have made operational the 400 vehicles for which €8 million has been put in place. Those vehicles should have been put in place in rural communities and the new Garda rostering system should have been put in place. The entire thing should have been allowed to bed in and the Government should have revamped the community alert and neighbourhood watch schemes. Only then should the Government have re-evaluated the need for the existing Garda stations nationwide. I do not accept the argument, put to me in a previous debate on the community of rural Ireland, that it is not possible to equip 400 vehicles simultaneously in this country. There are hundreds of companies in Ireland that are involved in re-spraying and kitting out of vehicles and what was lacking was the political will to do this.
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I will conclude on this point. In effect, what the Government has done in this instance equates to removing the scaffolding before the refitting and rebuilding of the building has been carried out. My request to the Leader is to call on the Minister, even at this late stage, to show urgency, understanding and empathy for the plight of concerned residents in rural Ireland, Moreover, the 400 vehicles that have been budgeted for should be sent out into every corner of rural Ireland------
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-----in order that people are made feel safe in their communities. Thereafter, consideration should be given to the closure of Garda barracks.