Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for coming in. The first issue relates to the staffing of An Garda Síochána and where gardaí are being deployed. That is a big concern for me when I look at the county of Limerick. One station could cover 40 square miles with only two Garda cars and three gardaí, whereas in a city base there might be ten vehicles and 40 or 50 gardaí covering probably 3 square miles with a bigger population. I want equality. Everyone is entitled to feel safe. Everyone is entitled to have a good service whether they are in the county or the city. The biggest effect from a policing point of view is had by community police, who do an absolutely fantastic job because they get to know the people in the communities where they work and that helps when they are dealing with families in an area.

Another issue is the vehicles, supports and resources we have for the Garda. It is important to be able to use the technology that is available. It would also help the Garda if we could get over the legal challenges against certain technologies. The local authority was brought up recently for having cameras in place, which people had objected to. The cameras were necessary because they were in areas where a lot of crimes were being committed. Cameras are also very handy on the motorway at the moment to control speed. If gardaí are pursuing someone, the technology is available to alert them if the people pass a camera, as there is registration recognition built into the cameras. The technology is there to allow the information to be given to the Garda. That is especially important in an area of 40 square miles as a person could go anywhere. It is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. All such equipment can help the Garda, especially in the county. Such technology is within the cities because there are cameras on nearly every corner. I am interested in helping the Garda in the county.

In Limerick, we have had investigations into gardaí. It has taken up to three years to bring investigations into eight gardaí to a conclusion. In the middle of the investigation there was an attempt to move the process to Dublin and to have it heard there. That was only media propaganda trying to bring it to Dublin. I am glad that was turned around and it was brought back to Limerick where the Courts Service is quite adequate and capable of carrying out investigations itself. At the moment eight gardaí are out and they have not been replaced. Why has it taken three years for a Garda investigation and for charges to be brought, if they are to be brought? That is not good enough. If charges are brought, we should have the evidence to follow it up and it should not take three years for the process to go forward. I want gardaí back on the beat. If gardaí have been involved in wrongdoing, they must be dealt with, but if they have not, get them back out and deal with the issue. It should not take three years to deal with an issue and for people to be out of work.

In terms of disclosures, phones were taken off all the gardaí in the divisions in Limerick. I believe the only Garda county division to have its phones taken were from County Limerick and that did not happen in other counties. If they did it in one county, why did they not do it in every county? Why was it targeted towards my county of Limerick? If there has been wrongdoing in the Garda, I want it dealt with swiftly. I do not want it to take three years. If people have made disclosures, they do not want to wait three years either for a process to be put in place. I would welcome answers to some of those questions.