Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes, Chairman, that is why I am asking.

I want to move on to policing issues. There have been reports recently and parliamentary questions have been tabled to which I do not believe direct responses has been received. Parliamentary questions have been tabled by Deputy Broughan and others on the capacity of front-line gardaí to give chase. That is a very serious issue in rural areas, in particular where people might be a significant distance from a station, in terms of response times to burglaries and so on. My understanding is that those questions have not been fully answered but the Garda Representative Association believes that almost 50% of front-line gardaí, that is, the core units of gardaí attached to district stations as opposed to specialist units - do not have the required competency based driving, CBD, level two training that would allow them to give chase.

This is a serious concern. I believe that the person on the street, and most of the Members in the Houses, would assume that the vast majority of gardaí would be in a position to give chase whenever they see a crime being committed and where they feel there is a need to do so. I do not believe that the Minister or An Garda Síochána have released the figures in full. If they have, I have not seen them. Perhaps the Minister could outline the figures and what he intends to do so that members of An Garda Síochána, or the vast majority of front-line members of the Garda, are in a position to give chase in such instances.