Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and welcome the Commissioner to the committee and wish her every success in her new role. I may not need the full three questions because some of them have been asked already. I want to raise a question about crime and vandalism and how it impacts on public transport and what strategy the Garda Síochána has to deal with that. I am thinking, in particular, of DART stations in my constituency from Howth to Killester, about six or seven of them, which are regularly subjected to acts of vandalism. The week before last Bayside DART station was vandalised during the night time to such an extent that it was out of action for a number of hours the following morning. Vandalism has also occurred at Howth Junction and Kilbarrack stations. I heard today that Irish Rail is considering removing its staff from Kilbarrack and turning it into an unmanned station because of the level of vandalism that takes place there. This causes people to have a certain amount of fear. They will not travel late at night on the DART, particularly women, if they have to get off at an unmanned station. There is a real fear there and there is a certain vulnerability there for people who use public transport at night. What kind of strategies does the Garda Síochána have to deal with that kind of situation?