Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I agree with Deputy Doyle and that is why the Commissioner is undertaking this review — to arrive at a more precise definition of the responsibilities of the community policeman.

As regards Deputy Ó Snodaigh's point concerning the ringfencing of traffic gardaí, many countries have a separate traffic corps. In this jurisdiction, my predecessor maintained — I agree with him — that it is valuable to have the traffic corps as a direct part of the Garda Síochána. It requires a separate dedicated assignment of personnel, however. It is not desirable in other matters to have too rigid a division between community policemen and gardaí in local stations. All of them exist to serve the community in the prevention, investigation and detection of crime.

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