Mr. Diarmuid Cronin:

When the Garda stations were closed a few years ago, it just happened to be the time of the perfect storm because the Garda fleet was at an all-time low and the five-shift system came into place as well. The closing of the stations has not saved money. The problem is the local community wants to see gardaí around but without a fleet, that is not possible. The gardaí need to be mobile and able to put up a checkpoint on quiet rural roads. Besides the motorways, there is a fantastic network of roads in rural Ireland that takes people into the most remote places.

The garda in a local station must have a proper office. It is no use just having a building, as he or she needs a computer with broadband access and everything that goes with it. The garda must be able to do the job efficiently, and technology and up-to-date information in the office is an absolute must. There is that aspect to it. Where community alert groups and gardaí are working well, there is a low crime rate. Taking it by division and where district meetings are being held religiously, with a relationship built up by the communities and gardaí, and where information is coming in a two-way conversation, text alert has revolutionised the ability of the gardaí to get relevant information quickly to thousands of people in a district or division. We can see through statistics the divisions where this is working well and being used properly by gardaí against districts and divisions where the process is still only finding its feet. We can consider the figures, comparing towns, but the statistics speak for themselves.

I will mention Mallow district, which had 22 burglaries during September. The west Cork division, which encompasses the districts of Bandon, Clonakilty, Bantry and Macroom, and incorporating part of Kanturk district, had 12 burglaries. In October, west Cork had 11 burglaries.