Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

People have built up relationships with member of the Garda Síochána through the neighbourhood watch scheme. There is a relationship based on trust. The Commissioner knows the local garda cannot be inside every shop, or minding elderly people who live in estates. The people watching out will contact their local garda and state their suspicions. By removing the garda from the station, is this not a kick in the teeth for the community because the message from the senior garda is that they do not think the station is important or that link with the community is important, so we will close down the station. It is very interesting that the Commissioner stated three times that this is not about saving money but about better policing and a presence. Is the garda in the station not a presence in the community? What sort of message is being sent out to the criminals around the country by closing down the stations, if it is not saving money? The Commissioner mentioned his budget. We all appreciate that he is working under a constrained budget, but if he were to tell the committee that closing down 19 stations would save some millions of euros, that would be a point. However, he is not saying that. The Commissioner has not answered the question on how this will lead to better policing.

The Commissioner stated that he would not like to try to gag RTE. This is a very important issue. Rank and file garda throughout the country are very upset at what is being proposed. I put this to the Minister and he did not give a clear answer and I would like to put the same question to the Commissioner. Have rank and file garda throughout the country been ordered not to talk about the closure of Garda stations? Have they been asked not to make representations about problems they see arising from the closure of the stations? Have they been instructed that their extended families are not to raise this issue, not even with their public representatives?

Any member of the Garda Síochána should be entitled, the same as any other person, to make representations to its local representatives, be they local or national representatives. If it is the case that the Garda is gagged on such an important issue, that would be outrageous. They should be entitled to their viewpoint the same as everybody else. The Garda Commissioner said he wanted to hear from the ground up and that he had sent that message. If that is happening on the one hand, who gagged them on the other hand and told them not to raise the issue?