Joanna Byrne (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I apologise for having had to step out of the meeting for a moment. I will start by saying I am very supportive of the work of An Garda Síochána, particularly in my home town of Drogheda and the work being done by that division in recent years. Everyone will be aware that Drogheda has been the centre of a very vicious feud between drug gangs, which has terrorised families and destroyed homes to the extent that it has decimated communities. Eventually it surpassed probably the lowest point in gangland history in the nation, with the torture, murder and dismemberment of a teenage boy in 2020.

With this in mind, I want to touch on Mr. Harris's comments on recruitment and how he disperses personnel among divisions. I believe the alignment of policing divisions under the new operating model is not working for Drogheda. The focus has moved away from the largest town in the country, with a population that continues to grow. Earlier, the Commissioner referenced population growth as one of the contributing factors as to where personnel go. The figures show that in 2022, there were two sergeants and 14 gardaí in the community policing unit. At present there are one sergeant and five gardaí, from what I can see in the latest figures. I feel we have taken the foot off the throttle, and in time it will undermine the great work that was done under the baton of the former chief superintendent Christy Mangan, the current chief superintendent Alan McGovern and Superintendent Andrew Waters. They have been crucial in rebuilding trust and confidence in An Garda Síochána among the people who live in Drogheda.

I want to query why Garda numbers are down, particularly community gardaí, in Drogheda, especially considering that most of the Commissioner's comments today have been on the significance of community gardaí and the visibility of police on our streets. It is that bad in Drogheda that last month the ten county councillors who are based in Drogheda protested outside the Garda station in fury over the lack of visibility of gardaí patrolling the streets of Drogheda.

I would be keen for Mr. Harris to comment on that.