Mr. Michael Finn:

We have four pilot areas in Cork city, Galway, Mayo and Dublin South Central. This local policing model only started officially in the first quarter of this year but we have been planning for it over a two year period. There has been wide consultation on the local policing model and how it is going to be delivered at local level. On the initial impact, we have had only one quarter where we have had it fully operational, even though we have been ramping it up since last year. The impact locally has been very positive. This is primarily because we have been able to take the savings we achieved as result of centralising our administration and civilisation programme - where we put civilian staff into the control rooms - which allowed us to put gardaí back out onto the front line policing the State. Immediately there is a win for the public because we are able to beef up community policing teams. That is one example in an urban centre. Divisions such as Galway or Mayo, for example, would have the benefit of allowing more gardaí to go back into some rural stations. That is the emphasis in places such as Galway. From talking with Chief Superintendent Tom Curley I am aware that this is what he is trying to achieve initially. During the period of austerity we took a lot of resources out from those smaller rural areas and sucked them into the centre, effectively to keep our 24-7 services going. Now the chief superintendent in the Galway division is able to put gardaí into those smaller, rural stations and increase our footprint. That is where we are getting bang for our buck in the impact of our operating model and changing our structures.

With regard to the public, it is now easier for people to engage with us. In the past a person might have had to write to three or four different superintendents to get an answer to a question. Now a person may write to divisional HQ, which will look after all of the administration. We have taken the administration away from the superintendents and we have also taken away a lot of the work they may have done in the past such as going to court or having to investigate complaints, which was taking perhaps 30% or 40% of their time. We have taken that away from superintendents so they can spend more time out there engaging with their communities, and understanding what needs to be done for delivering that policing service locally.

These are some of the benefits we have seen in the four pilot areas where we ran the local policing model, which is one part of the overall operating model we are bringing about. While the local policing model and structural changes are the very public dimension of the reform a lot of it is about streamlining our back office services and trying to reduce the administration, right from the top of the organisation down to the bottom. It is about freeing up local gardaí so they can be deployed back out into front-line policing. Another example is the airports. If one goes through Dublin Airport now one will not see gardaí manning the booths like we had in the past. The Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service does that now. Those resources can now be deployed back to increasing our drugs and organised crime units right across the State. The feedback has been very positive so far.