Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses spoke about Stepaside Garda Station and the report. Deputy McDonald asked them to provide us with the interim report up to now. The witnesses spoke about the CSO and making a decision about where stations will be opened and deployment of staff. I looked at the census from 1996 to 2006 to see where the big changes occurred. Dublin city grew by 13%, Dún Laoghaire grew by 13%, south Dublin grew by 22%, Fingal by 43%, Meath by 44% and Kildare by 39%. Kildare, Meath and Fingal make up the area that has seen huge growth. There has not been a parallel increase. I know that is not the only measurement because An Garda Síochána looks at crime statistics and a range of other things. On a per capitabasis, the lowest rate of gardaí to population is found in Kildare followed by Meath and places like Wexford. If there are to be deployment and transfers, will they be on the basis of matching the population growth and crime statistics? What metrics will An Garda Síochána use? It has never been the case that this has played a whole part in this up to now. For the past ten or 12 years, I have engaged with various assistant commissioners about the deployment of resources because they have never matched population growth. It is part of the reason Deputy Cassells is so frustrated because the same pattern occurs in areas with very high growth. I would have thought that the full opening of Celbridge Garda Station, which opens on a part-time basis, would have come in ahead of Stepaside Garda Station given the population increase.