Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his reply. Will he meet with the Garda Commissioner at an early date to initiate a review on the matter of rural policing? How many Garda stations have closed and ceased operating since his party came to power in 1997? How many Garda stations are now operating on short time?

In the late 1990s, his Government initiated the "green man" scheme where the operation of some rural Garda stations was put under the auspices of a machine. Has any benefit analysis been done as to the efficiencies, drawbacks and difficulties attached to the green man system?

The population change and social mobility of the past number of years have given rise to a situation where there is a need to review the Garda stations. Does the Minister accept that the vast rural area of the Beara peninsula has no Garda station and has one garda covering an entire expansive area? What does the Minister propose to do in this regard? Does he accept there is a need to rebalance the location of Garda stations in accordance with the growth of population and population structures and that a review is needed at a root and branch level at this stage?

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