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

I thank Commissioner Harris and his colleagues for coming before us. I congratulate him and wish him the best of luck in his position. He is taking the position at a time of great change following on from several controversies, which unfortunately somewhat undermined public confidence in the institution as a whole. Notwithstanding that, I believe that in the vast majority of cases the local garda still enjoys great trust from the people and the people have great faith in him or her. People want to see more gardaí in their community.

This is also a time that has a lot of potential. While I do not agree with every single recommendation in the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland report, there are many positive elements which can modernise and transform policing. One of the major priorities in the recommendations was the emphasis on community policing. I am a big fan of the community policing model. I may have a slightly contrary view to Deputy Brophy in that I think the model as it is works reasonably well where it is resourced correctly. Unfortunately, the number of dedicated community gardaí has fallen by about 40% since 2010 or 2011. That has undermined the model. Does the Commissioner intend to make policing in the community a core priority? Does he favour the use of dedicated community gardaí to ensure that the model is restored?