Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

I will. The engagement is one part of it but the substance of the matter - I will finish on this - is the other part of it. The substance that he pointed out in the first email is that this is not policing, it is crisis management, when he said there was only one garda on duty from Donegal town right through to Gweebarra, including Glencolumbkille. We had a terrible tragedy on the roads recently when the Rev. Sheila Johnson was killed. There was a garda on that road in a personal vehicle. He could not close the road and he had no signs or lights. He did not even have a sign on the car. He was not in a Garda vehicle. There was only one person on duty, as far as I understand, from Donegal town right through to Gweebarra. Two other people had to be called on duty. This is symptomatic of what Brian Carr, I and others have been raising. There is a serious crisis in personnel in Donegal with regard to Garda resources. I understand there is pressure with regard to Dublin and we have heard about the visibility and all the rest. It is coming at a cost to rural areas and it needs to be addressed. This has been highlighted by a public representative months beforehand. It has come to pass. It is unacceptable that we have a fatality on the side of the road and the Garda is not in a position to close the road. For half an hour travelling either side of them, there was not even a single garda on duty at that time. It is not acceptable.