Mr. John O'Driscoll:

This process commenced with a letter from the then Minister for Justice and Equality to the Commissioner asking the Commissioner to identify six stations for reopening. It set down particular criteria: a rural and urban inclusion and premises that remain in State ownership. The first task was to identify which stations remain in State ownership and that involved interaction with the Office of Public Works, OPW. A significant number of stations had been sold and those remaining I examined in detail. In the Dublin Metropolitan Region, DMR, there were only four available to consider. That made the task in Dublin easier than elsewhere in the country. The acting Commissioner, when he appeared before Committee of Public Accounts, stressed the importance of local involvement in this decision making and I engaged with the assistant commissioners in the regions seeking their input and asking them to engage with relevant stakeholders.

There is a situation in An Garda Síochána such that of the commissioners who were serving on the day I was promoted in May of last year only one remains. All the others have been appointed since that date. I engaged with particular assistant commissioners at an early stage but there was a change in management and in Cork every chief superintendent had changed. I went back and sought an input from the new management team in the southern region and as recently as 19 September I received a response from that region which differs from responses I received earlier from a different management team. The emphasis is on ensuring that there is a local input, that I am not the one who is choosing a station in Donegal or west Cork or wherever.

On the basis of the criteria given to us, it was obvious that Stepaside would be number one of the four. I suggested that if there was to be a second one it would be Rush but there were criteria for circumstances where there would be two stations chosen in Dublin. The second station cannot be considered as a definite decision until such time as the other stations around the country have been identified. I expect that I will be able to conclude the work I am doing within the next two weeks. I can say categorically that no person has come to me asking that a specific station be opened. I have sight of all the parliamentary questions put by various public representatives about stations to be reopened. I stated earlier that I believed I would have the report completed on an earlier date. The then Minister for Justice and Equality in concluding the letter to the Commissioner asked to be kept informed of current developments and she and the current Minister for Justice and Equality have sought that information.

I have advised them that it has taken me longer than expected; that I have sought additional information from the various regions and all of that will be given in detail in the final report.

In the interim report I have stated that I believe caution should be exercised in terms of the use of crime statistics as a significant indicator of where a Garda station would be built or opened, because on that basis alone, one would open a station on one day and close it a month later and open up a different station in the following week. There has been a greater emphasis on population. I have also emphasised that there is a need to consider that in certain locations in this country at any particular time there is a temporary population, which far exceeds the population of an area, whether that be at Dublin Airport, which has 30 million people passing through it, or Dublin Port, or a college environment. I have suggested other criteria that perhaps should be taken into consideration when reaching a conclusion. In any event I will submit a final report to the acting Commissioner in the next two weeks, in which there will be recommendations in respect of six stations. It will be a matter for the acting Commissioner to decide which stations will be opened and to inform the Minister of that decision and the timeline involved. That will be determined following additional consultation with the OPW on the expense and level of work required in advance to bring a station into operation.