Mr. Noel Waters:

I think €549,000 per annum is the actual figure, but the process around this is that the Commissioner, back in 2012-2013, as the Deputy knows, in preparing the policing plan, identified better ways in which to deliver a policing service.

As part of that, a Garda station rationalisation programme was devised which ultimately led to the closure of 139 stations. Those proposals were accepted by the then Minister. It is important to note, in case the point is lost in the debate, that in terms of the population, we have a very substantial number of Garda stations - 585 - still in operation. To make a comparison, Scotland, a similar jurisdiction, has only a couple of hundred.

In terms of the rationale for the programme of station closures, it was not merely - I use the word "merely" advisedly - about saving money but also about the Garda, as it is required to do under law, identifying the best policing model it saw fit and delivering that model. In the view of Garda management, a view the Minister accepted, it represented a better utilisation of Garda resources for members to be out on mobile patrols meeting people in communities rather than manning Garda stations, which was soaking up resources. That is the context in which the decision emanated.