Ms Paula Hilman:

I thank Senator Ruane for her comments with which I would agree. We start off with design and engineering from the outset where we can. When we do come in with enforcement, even like the example in Limerick, we can bring our community policing team in but what does the design look like outside that school? If one is going to design something where people cannot park, is there a car park where parents can park to have a longer term solution to that?

Superintendent Fallon has some research from the University of Limerick, UL, and I will pass over to him shortly. From the perspective of An Garda Síochána and how we approach things, I did outline at the outset how we operate. We are the national unit and we set operations and we communicate those. Everything is still left to the discretion of the individual garda who goes to the call. If we look at how we policed Covid-19, the four Es it is very much the same in this space - engagement, explaining, education and then the move on to enforcement. With enforcement Chief Superintendent Murphy is working with the Department on the introduction of the increased fines. There are increased fines introduced by the Minister but it is important to have the tools and toolkits that are right for the individual circumstances gardaí find themselves in when they go out to those calls. Undoubtedly it is also about, as Senator Ruane referenced, engineering and partnership, working with local authorities and how areas are designed. There are also the opportunities offered by technology. The Senator mentioned research and I know Superintendent Fallon has some.