Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The amendment proposes to extend FOI legislation to certain elements of the activities of the Garda. It deals with the deployment of Garda personnel which is very unequal. One can understand why it happens in the way it does in some locations, but it is almost impossible to figure it out elsewhere. Around this time of the year, the Garda Commissioner is required to compile a service plan that is laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas in every December. It is almost impossible to understand the rationale behind some of the deployment decisions made. I have carried out a comparative study and discovered that some offences are likely to be under-reported because gardaí are required to witness them such as road traffic offences and drugs seizures. A low ratio of gardaí leads to an under-reporting of crime which, in turn, understates the need for additional gardaí. The Garda divisions of Kildare and Meath are by far the worst represented, followed by Wexford. I understand why this happens in a place such as Limerick which has had a particular problem; the same applies to Dublin city centre. However, every time I have asked a parliamentary question I have been told decisions are based on crime rates, size of population and other similar criteria.

We have gone through the statistics on crime from the CSO website. It appears that the crimes reported are counted but there is under-reporting of specific crimes. There is a need to examine that to ensure there is a fair allocation of resources around the country. I do not see how we can do that through the process of laying the Garda Síochána plan before the Houses of the Oireachtas without the ability to scrutinise it properly. It is up to the Garda Commissioner to deploy staff as he sees fit based on the information available to him. For example, Sligo/Leitrim north does not have a particular difficulty and has a significantly lower population than some parts of the country but it has a higher number of gardaí. I hope that outlines why the specific element should be opened up to greater scrutiny. That involves the Garda Síochána directly as opposed to the Minister, who does not have the responsibility for deploying the force; the Garda Commissioner does.