Mr. Kevin Bolger:

I thank the Deputy for his input. We wholeheartedly agree. The Deputy missed it earlier when we spoke to this point. Numbers given to a meeting of the community safety authority last month showed that in 2015, there were approximately 807 dedicated community policing officers. Community policing was their sole function and they were appointed to those positions. The force stood at approximately 12,700 at that time. Currently, it stands at approximately 14,200 and there are roughly 697 members attached to community policing functions. That is a drop of approximately 1.5% while our needs and the population have increased by numerous times.

The Deputy and one of his colleagues have spoken to drugs task forces and local partnerships. That is where community policemen and policewomen are embedded. They are the connection for every group and person. They conduct interactive community policing on the ground. They build networks, get information and start to do all of that. What the Deputy says is true. We are a reactionary organisation when it comes to major incidents and we have to mobilise units. That is just what we do.

As was alluded to at the committee last week, when there is a match or a specific requirement, those Garda members generally are the first ones picked on because they are not filling patrol cars and are not in the response vehicle or whatever else. They are generally the ones who are mobilised first and that is to the detriment of communities. As we laid out, we are strong proponents for interactive community policing. There is a narrative out there in respect of community engagement that gardaí at a barrier on a match day is community policing. It is not. That is community engagement. We fundamentally believe in the gardaí who are in the communities and whose names the youngsters know. They are there for evenings and nights, late-night soccer leagues, Scout meetings or whatever else young people are involved with. Those are the community police officers and we need them.