Mr. Drew Harris:

When we allocate resources, we also have to look at the demand placed on An Garda Síochána in calls for service. There is a balance between the presence of gardaí and their availability to respond to calls and emergencies and also deal with whatever crime there is. That has to be balanced against the actual demand a population centre creates. We now know far more about the demand - the 1.2 million calls for service we get - which must be factored in as well. On one night, one Dublin metropolitan region division had half of the work the entire organisation was taking on, for instance. There is also the GardaSAFE system.