Mr. Martin Callinan:

In the context of station closures, the first thing I should say is that we in An Garda Síochána are absolutely alive to the sensitivity that surrounds this issue. We have had over 700 Garda stations nationally. All of us in the room are familiar with some of those Garda stations and what they represent to communities on the one hand and, thereafter, how effective these buildings would be. The whole idea behind some of these closures is not a cost-saving exercise. Having said that, however, there is no doubt that there will be savings. I have mentioned here previously, and to the Committee of Public Accounts in the past, that the figures seem to run somewhere between €2,500 and €4,000 per annum to maintain these buildings. Quite a number of them are in a poor state of repair.

In setting about doing our work, we examine the demographic and the area that has to be policed. We look at the footfall to the station, the level of crimes committed in the area and what is reported. Generally speaking, assistant commissioners, through their teams in these areas, provide a critical analysis of those stations and what they represent within communities.

When a situation arose that we would have less money and resources, it was clear to me that we had to provide a policing plan and model that would suit our circumstances. In particular, the new roster is an example of how clustering arrangements need to be brought into being. We are faced with perhaps one or two people working certain hours in a particular Garda station, or bringing them into a centre where they could team up with colleagues and provide a much more mobile and flexible policing service. Therefore the idea behind the new arrangements, in cases where we are closing stations, will be to provide a service that was in place heretofore. Beyond that, we will provide the type of efficiency that we have been speaking about.

It is clearly the case that there are groups of criminals travelling the length and breadth of this country, usually late at night and early in the morning, carrying out all sorts of crimes - particularly burglary and aggravated burglary, both residential and commercial. One will not solve those crimes or dismantle those groups within the bricks and mortar of a building. Active policemen and women are needed out there, working with their colleagues and being effective. They work through intelligence and crime trends to tackle these problems. That is why the recommendations I will be making to the Minister very shortly, in the context of future station closures, will incorporate all of these aspects.

We have not gone out to the community because, I dare say, no community in Ireland would agree to a station closing in its locality. I am providing for the Minister the collateral, reasoning and logic behind decisions that formed the recommendations to close these stations. I am indicating the type of effectiveness that can flow from reducing some of these stations and redeploying some of the personnel - not in all cases but in some - and at the same time providing the public in these areas with the reassurance that we are actually providing a policing service. We have not pulled down the shutters on that building and walked away from those communities. I know there is a big debate out there. There are major concerns and rightly so. If I was in those communities I have no doubt I would be banging on public representatives' doors to ask what they are doing to stop this. However, this is the reality of life that we are faced with. We have a very large number of Garda stations. We do not see a number of them being critical to our requirements with the new policing model that we are putting in place. That is the reasoning behind recommendations to close some of these stations.

There will certainly be dialogue and discussion at joint policing committees in areas where stations have closed. Those debates will continue long after the decision is made on how we are going to implement that service. The Deputy and his constituents will be provided with the type of reassurance to satisfy them that, while they may not absolutely agree with what is going on, I think they will have a certain reassurance that we are doing our best to ensure that there is a better service out there by providing the type of availability and flexibility within the confines of the working tours, aimed at tackling the problems of that area, whether they are crime, public order or other issues. That is the reasoning behind the station closures.