Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When the new courthouse was opened on Mulgrave Street last year, before we knew it gardaí were providing the security detail. I was surprised considering the precedent set at the new Criminal Courts of Justice in 2010. I want it to be corrected because we need extra gardaí on the streets. I very much welcome the Commissioner's pronouncement in that regard.

I have one final point. I return to chapter 17 of the report of the Committee on the Future of Policing in Ireland on page 61. It considers the district policing model comprising 96 districts and 570 police stations. It reads: "We believe that decisions on the ideal numbers of either districts or stations should be made by the Garda Commissioner". I raise the matter in that context.

While I represent Limerick city, I live in Castletroy. It is a large suburb, one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in Munster. We have a university on our doorstep. The area has a total population of approximately 15,000 which is swelled by 15,000 students. There are also about 18 organisations which employ approximately 4,000 people. That gives a total of approximately 34,000 people and the population of the area is expected to increase to 45,000. Ballincollig is a similar area in Cork. It is one of the divisional policing model pilot areas and has a population of 18,000. Castletroy is quite a distance from Limerick city and strategically located and exposed alongside the motorway which has resulted in burglaries in recent times. I am asking the Commissioner for his view on new Garda stations in specific areas. Can a case be made in that regard? Obviously, policing initiatives and gardaí on the beat are key elements, but certainly in the area in which I live we have a strong, if not a unique, argument in favour of the need for a new Garda station.