Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The McCarthy report proposals regarding the closure of 350 Garda stations would provide a saving of €1 million. No decisions have been made on any of the McCarthy proposals. They are all being considered in the context of the budgetary discussions currently under way. Therefore, I am not in a position to give an assurance, one way or the other, as to what will happen with regard to the McCarthy proposals. However, the new model of community policing which was announced by the Minister at the beginning of the year, is working well. We started a process of taking gardaí out of stations and putting them on the beat rather than doing clerical work. This process is progressive and is significant. The Garda Commissioner has been very enthusiastic about providing a visible presence of members of the force. I must reiterate what the Commissioner said in the context of the terrible tragedy in Waterford during the week, namely that he is anxious that the people who are aware of issues should support the gardaí.

Additional places have been provided and a new model of community policing has been set up by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. In the context of the McCarthy report all these issues are being considered by the Government but no decisions have been made.

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