Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Okay. It is was brought to my attention because, as I mentioned at the start, drugs have absolutely ripped apart working class communities, particularly parts of my own community. We have seen families who have been caught up in drug use for generation after generation at this stage. Therefore, when the public see or hear about drugs going missing from a Garda station, it raises concerns around public confidence in An Garda Síochána. I wanted to make that point.

One of the other things touched on in the opening statement was about the redeployment of community gardaí in instances of, usually, sporting events in the likes of Croke Park and at the Ireland matches, which I attend an awful lot myself.

It is good to see the guards on the street and they are welcome. There are other times when guards are redeployed from areas where they are needed. I have a good relationship with the community guards in my area but if there is serious incident in another part of Dublin, they are often redeployed to deal with it. There was a high-profile murder in Dublin a couple of months ago. Members of the Garda from my area were brought to the inner city to show a presence by being on the streets. If I know that is going to happen, you had better believe that the criminals and open drug dealers in my area know it will happen. As soon as there is a serious incident, what happens in my area is that the criminals who are out on the street and who know how the Garda will respond increase their activity tenfold. Do the witnesses have any scope in respect of moving gardaí away from an area that needs them? I know they are dealing with a high-profile incident but they are leaving other communities at a detriment.