Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. They shared many common themes around the frustrations and concerns of gardaí. My conversations with gardaí across Cavan and Monaghan are very much reflective of what the witnesses have presented today.

I have a question for each of the presenters, beginning with Mr. O'Connor of the GRA. On community policing, we have heard him talking quite a bit about the impact of the changes, particularly around rostering. I would like to tease out the implications, especially for rural counties. I admit to being parochial, in that I am mainly concerned about divisions like Cavan-Monaghan, which includes Louth. Great work is being done on community policing, which Mr. Gallagher mentioned. There is great engagement with businesses, schools and elderly people. Gardaí working in the area often tell me they are receiving information they would not have obtained before there was visible community policing. We all recognise that element of visibility as being incredibly important. Will Mr. O'Connor elaborate on that?

Ms Cunningham spoke in her opening statement about the three-county divisions and the impact it is having on the issue of visibility. Will she elaborate further on that? I am mindful that our chief superintendent, Alan McGovern, who is doing an incredible job, has been asked to police an area that includes very busy areas in near-cities like Drogheda and Dundalk, right back over to Blacklion. That is a vast area that incorporates vastly different types of criminality. I do not understand how it can be done. I would appreciate Ms Cunningham's view on that.

We have seen how tourism was impacted long before there was the reputational damage to which Mr. Cummins referred. Can he put a figure on how restaurant owners and publicans have been affected in terms of their turnover, which we know has a ripple effect on their staff and on the viability of their businesses?

I would like to delve further into Mr. Gallagher's conversations with businesses, the liaison work he is doing with community policing and his view that the four-day roster does not provide adequate continuity. I understand the issues that arise when cases happen. I am not saying it falls off a cliff but I understand the difficulty. Will he expand on that?