Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is of serious concern to me as someone representing a rural area. To illustrate the concern communities feel, four members of the public are in the Gallery. They will not speak or contribute but they will listen to what is being said. One of them got up at 2.30 this morning in Goleen to travel to Cork to get an early train to Dublin. They are community activists in places such as Kealkill, Goleen and Kilbrittain, and their concern illustrates what is going on in rural communities.

The Commissioner said his foremost thrust is to reduce crime and, if possible, eliminate it. That may be utopian and is perhaps not achievable. I refer to the closure of Garda stations on the Mizen Peninsula and the closure of banks. Although the latter is not an issue for the Commissioner, when banks are closed, old people are inclined to keep money in houses and criminals are aware of it. I am not being parochial but five or six rural courthouses have been closed in west Cork. Gardaí in Castletownbere station must go to Bandon or Cork city to deal with a criminal charge. People are being dragged out of the community. Was a cost benefit analysis done on the value of closing rural stations? The evidence of closing rural stations in England and Wales is well documented and shows that crime doubles. It may not involve gangland crime, which we are talking about, but my concern is that the saving of €3,000 per year in keeping a small station open, such as Goleen or Kilbrittain, is small change with regard to having a community that is concerned and alarmed, according to the impression I get. This will not go away because there is a belief in rural Ireland that the small hospital, the Garda station and the local bank being closed will attract criminals to an area where policing is less visible.

I am very concerned about developments in the past 20 years with regard to gardaí embedded in communities. Having emigrated in my younger days, I returned to west Cork in 1981. I knew every garda in the town and they all lived in the town. I am concerned that gardaí come to a village or town but no longer live in the community. Dunmanway, with six or seven gardaí and one or two sergeants, is an example where none of them lives in the town.

It is reassuring to a local community if the local garda plays a bit of football or hurling and is seen walking the streets and people know where he lives and where to contact him. I know that it may not be directly related but it is a concern. There are approximately 30 gardaí in my home town of Bantry. Probably 20 of them arrive in the morning but go home at night to Kerry or another part of Cork. That is not a good development. I appreciate people have links to other towns. As far as possible, if a garda is assigned to a district, he or she should live in, and be active in, that community. That is real community policing.