Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. I apologise for not being physically present but I had to be in two places at once and I was contributing in the Dáil as well. I thank them for their opening statements and their answers to questions thus far. I will touch on a number of matters on which I hope they will be able to comment. Regarding the issue of rosters, I am obviously pleased to see there has been an agreement that an arrangement can be made to fix on a mutually agreeable roster. The GRA has repeatedly said the target should be to achieve adequate work-life balance. I endorse that view. It is one I firmly support. Has the switch to a hybrid roster resulted in an increase in the number of policing hours available? That may be a question for the AGSI.

Appropriate training was mentioned in the opening statements of both Garda organisations. What sort of appropriate training should be provided? This may be an issue for discussion at a later point. On the point made about on-the-job training, I was of the view that once a garda was attested after 32 weeks, he or she was deployed to a Garda training station. Will the members of An Garda Síochána present comment on the level of resources that are available within the training stations? Is it their view that they are sufficient to meet the training demand?

What are the views of the GRA and the AGSI on the support provided by the Garda Reserve? What would they like to see happen with the Garda Reserve? I know there is a paper being discussed and I would welcome their views on that.

I direct my next questions to the representatives of the Restaurants Association of Ireland. Alcohol was not mentioned in the opening statements, although it was touched on by a number of members, including Deputy Costello. I too am surprised by this because the vast majority of the issues of which I am informed, particularly in the city centre but also in our towns and villages, are alcohol-related rather than drug-related. One of the city centre issues of which I am acutely aware, and I know housing was mentioned, is the concentration of addiction services and the impact that has on the city centre. Does the RAI have any knowledge of this or is it talking to the HSE or Dublin City Council regarding that concentration? I should point out that I am firmly in favour of the provision of addiction services right across the country. Regardless of location, city centre or otherwise, I would like to see them put into places where they are required.

On the issue of community policing, an issue consistently raised with me is the availability of community policing in any given community. I am thinking in particular of the suburbs of our cities. In my experience, community policing is not a consistently provided service. Often members of the Garda are changed on a semi-regular basis which leads to problems. Some of that might be to do with rostering but it may also be related to the general attractiveness of An Garda Síochána. Will the Garda representatives comment on that?