John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

In this context, the removal of Ballymote District Court from the town would be a decision of the most short-sighted and ludicrous nature. It would clearly undermine and interfere with the smooth operation of the Garda station. There is no joined-up thinking in this regard. It would take gardaí away from their communities for unnecessarily long periods of time and undermine the concept of community policing.

The Courts Service proposes that Ballymote District Court would either be moved to Sligo or sit in Tubbercurry, amalgamated with Tubbercurry District Court. As Deputy Scanlon will agree, this is a very large district. If the court moves to Sligo, all of the gardaí based in Ballymote district would have to travel to Sligo to have their cases heard, resulting in considerable expense to the State in respect of travel, overtime and subsistence, which makes no sense whatever.

The proposal to merge Ballymote and Tubbercurry District Courts is a totally unviable solution. With the abolition in recent times of Riverstown District Court and the inclusion of additional court areas in Ballymote, there has been a great increase in the number of cases being dealt with.

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