Mr. Seamus Sherlock:

The ICSA holds meetings all over rural Ireland. Each county has an executive with four representatives. These executives hold annual meetings. I have been to every county to address meetings. We have always encouraged communities to come together. I deal with many older people in rural areas. I always make sure that they have their closest neighbours’ telephone numbers. They must ring the Garda when there is a problem but they should also ring their neighbours. It might take the Garda up to 40 minutes to get to some rural parts. Forty minutes would be a horrendous time for any elderly person, terrified that he or she will be beaten up.

We have always looked for community policing. It is not that long ago that every community had a garda. Everyone knew the garda by name and they were never really off duty even if they were training the local soccer or hurling team. They were always keeping one eye on the community. They knew who should be in the community and, more importantly, they knew who should not.

Everybody has a camera on his or her phone. It is not easy to write down a registration plate of a suspicious car or van. Taking a picture of it is easier and could be invaluable to the Garda if something happened in a community. It is all about communities.

It is not about knocking the Garda. In fairness, many rural gardaí do tremendous work. The problem is, however, that they are being pulled left, right and centre. Many rural gardaí are spending too much time sitting behind a desk. They will say that themselves. They want to be out patrolling and looking after our elderly and most vulnerable. However, they are spending significant amounts of time on a computer behind a desk. They are asked to go to court sittings, inquests, etc. These should be cut out to allow the gardaí do the job for which they signed up.