Mr. Brian Purcell:

I can give a short comment if that suits the committee. There were a number of closures last year. The Commissioner will submit his policing plan, which will cover the particular issue raised by the Deputy, towards the end of this month. The reality is that, out of approximately 700 Garda stations, 39 were closed last year, eight of which were previously closed stations which were not reopened. It is part of an ongoing rationalisation of the structure of policing in the State. As those stations were there since the foundation of the State, they would have been there when the British were here and there was a requirement for different reasons to have a widespread network of police stations. The evolution of policing since then means that the same number of stations is not needed. Effectively, what the Commissioner is doing is to try to deploy resources to the best effect to deliver what might be loosely described as smart policing. Advances in technology facilitate that. The Garda Commissioner and the Minister are acutely aware of the views of local communities if a Garda station is closed. The intention is that, rather than have a Garda sitting in a rural Garda station dealing, perhaps, with the stamping of passport forms, the resources can be deployed in a more active way in that area. Without getting into details, there are many ways of dealing with the gap left following the closure of a one-man Garda station, which can result in a more visible Garda presence in an area.

An issue that is being examined in the context of the stations that have closed - in conjunction with the Office of Public Works, which has responsibility for the buildings - is whether those buildings could be made available to local communities and in turn-----