Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome this opportunity to speak for a second time in this debate. I made a brief contribution yesterday. I acknowledge the presence in the Chamber of many eminent Deputies, not only from Fianna Fáil but also from other parties. It is encouraging that they want to hear me speak.

When I listened to the speech made yesterday by Deputy Perry, in which he mentioned every street in Sligo, I was reminded that it is alright to be parochial when speaking in the House. Therefore, I have decided to speak about Tallaght during the seven minutes available to me.

As I said yesterday, it is important that we support the work of the Garda Síochána, for example by ensuring it has proper resources and facilities, while ensuring the force is doing its job properly. I gave some examples yesterday of the effective deployment of friendly gardaí on our streets. The members of the force are doing their jobs by delivering the services demanded of them by communities. It is important that we support the Garda in that.

I live in Tallaght, which is the third largest centre of population in the country. I often make the point that there is just one Garda station within the boundaries of my constituency, which has a population of almost 70,000. Parts of Dublin South-West are served by the Garda stations in Rathfarnham, Clondalkin and Crumlin, as well as Tallaght Garda station, which is in the constituency. Some of the stations I have mentioned were also referred to yesterday. It is important that we understand the need for the Garda to continue to have excellent facilities and first-class resources so it can offer communities the friendly, effective and efficient service they want.

I mention the ongoing campaign for the redevelopment of Tallaght Garda station, which was built in 1987. The Garda station was in place before many of the other services in the Tallaght region. I often make the point that Tallaght did not fall out of the sky 30 years ago — it has been there forever. I often said, after the new Tallaght came on stream in the 1970s, that it had the population of a city and the status of a village. We needed many of the new facilities which are in place today, thank God. The Garda station in Tallaght, which was the first building of its type to be developed in Tallaght, is now outdated. If one examines the history of the community of Tallaght over the past 16 years, one will note that it has benefitted from many of the developments one would expect in a new city. I refer to The Square shopping centre, Tallaght Hospital and many sporting and cultural facilities.

We need to focus on providing first-class facilities for the Garda to allow it to provide its various services. In any debate, other Deputies will make the case for the provision of such services in their constituencies, as they have done on this occasion, and I am certainly making the case for my constituency. As the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, will be aware, I have argued on a number of occasions that a second Garda station is needed in Tallaght. I will continue to make the point that such a Garda station should be located in west Tallaght. Members of the House from all constituencies will agree that police visibility is important. Just as people like to see politicians visiting their communities occasionally, they like to see gardaí on the streets on a regular basis. I mentioned yesterday that I came from a different Dublin where when I was growing up, I used to see gardaí on foot and on their bicycles, and threatening to confiscate our footballs, and so on. It is important that we understand the value of such engagement with the public.

I am a strong supporter of the concept of police forums. It is important that we encourage the Minister, Deputy McDowell, to promote that concept. People in my constituency were disappointed that it was not selected for inclusion in the pilot programme, especially in light of the size of Dublin South-West and the Tallaght area, in particular. I remind the Minister of State, as I have often reminded the Tánaiste, that progress needs to be made with the programme. That will happen if community groups and activists engage with local leaders, gardaí and public representatives to discuss the various issues. I am sure my colleagues, Deputies Costello and English, agree with me on the basis of the experience in their constituencies. I imagine that the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, thinks that such a process would be of assistance in Galway. We need to continue to emphasise the importance of developments like police forums. We need to keep the public on board. Having lived in Dublin for most of my life, I have always taken the view that it is important for the Garda to engage with the public. If such engagement does not take place and the Garda fails to do an effective and efficient job, alternative means of justice start to become evident in local areas. We are all familiar with examples of such activity, which we should try to resist. In that context, it is important to support the work of the Garda in a strong way.

I had an opportunity a couple of years ago to join some of my parliamentary colleagues on a trip to London. The Minister had arranged for the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights to visit Scotland Yard and to learn about policing projects in that great city. We saw the value of various innovative approaches to policing, including the involvement of reserve constables and what we might call community gardaí. There are many different views about such concepts. As part of that trip, Deputy Finian McGrath — I hope he does not mind me mentioning him again — and I went on a patrol in the suburbs with members of the Metropolitan Police.

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