Ms Paula Hilman:

I support everything the Deputy said. I have responsibility for roads policing but I am also the strategic lead for community engagement and the framework for community policing that is being rolled out. They work in tandem. Many people say roads policing and community policing are very different but they are not. They have much in common and are about working on a local level. We spoke about policing in the capital city, Dublin, but for local towns throughout the country, those local issues are impactive. That is at the heart of what our community policing gardaí do.

In terms of support, we have a separate project of work. We have just rolled out mobility devices to our roads policing gardaí over recent years. More than 600 mobility devices have been provided to our community gardaí. We have branded community Garda cars; white cars with our badge on it. We are very much involved in community policing, problem solving, taking a partnership approach with local communities and joint policing committees, and working on those local issues. It is those local issues that impact on quality of life. We have heard about examples from Limerick and Kerry. It is very much our responsibility. Having listened to what local communities are telling us, those are the issues they want us to work in partnership to resolve.