Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

With no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, I am disappointed the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, is not in the Chamber to take this matter. He was present in the House for the Order of Business and cannot be too far away.

Clonmel Garda station is the largest station in the Tipperary division and deals with a large population. It is possibly one of the largest stations in the south east of the country. There is no point in beating around the bush; it is not fit for purpose. I, and previous Members of the House, tabled motions on this matter on many occasions but to no avail. The reason given was always that no suitable site was available; a committee was examining a number of different sites including the old Chadwicks building, which has since been sold, and the old Barlo building, which is now redundant and, the OPW is currently examining locations and preparing files.

There is no reason the Government and Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, having closed the prestigious Kickham barracks in Clonmel, the staff of which were treated less than courteously, cannot immediately make at least 11 acres of that site available for a decent functioning, fit for purpose, Garda station for Clonmel and the surrounding districts. This is what is needed if we are to have a proper community policing regime, community alert and neighbourhood watch groups, the capacity to carry out difficult and precarious detective work, a drugs unit and to house state-of-the-art IT facilities. The current station is nothing short of a hovel, the public interface of which is disgraceful in terms of it not being much bigger than this area where I am sitting. It provides no dignity for people visiting the station or for gardaí who are doing their best to deal with people. A woman or man with a buggy fills the tiny space available, leaving other people to wait their turn in the corridor or out on the street. It is not acceptable that the gardaí, under Superintendent Courtney, who do a wonderful job must work in these conditions. We need a station that is fit for purpose, a place wherein gardaí can be comfortable and at ease in fulfilling their roles of dealing with the public and codes of practice, which are quite onerous. We also need a place fit for purpose for restorative justice projects. It is not a situation of the gardaí and us; the people must be buy into the community of policing. We need decent facilities in which members of An Garda Síochána and the reserve can carry out their work. We also need space for the storage of Garda vehicles and equipment.

Clonmel Garda Station is the poor relation, in terms of facilities, in the town, which has state-of-the-art courthouses, civil defence and ambulance services. The county council also has new machinery and composting facilities. Many of the community facilities are in better condition than the Garda station, which is Dickensian. Also, it belongs to South Tipperary County Council which needs it back because it is renting buildings around the town of Clonmel and further afield to house IT and other facilities which cannot be located at its offices. The reserve force still does not have a training area and will, tonight, be without a home for a fifth week despite promises by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Deputy Shatter, that they would be housed before the barracks was closed.

There are 11.5 acres available on the barracks site, which could be used for dual or treble purposes. Clonmel needs a fit for purpose Garda Station which allows the provision of a justice service in south Tipperary and above all provides accommodation for Garda and the equipment they require to tackle the many issues which they must tackle with dignity and bravery. The Garda Síochána must have the tools of the trade to allow it to do its job. The current facility would not be accepted anywhere else. There are 11 acres available on the Kickham barracks site, which is a prestigious site adjacent to the town centre. The Garda Station could co-exist at that location with the reserve Defence Forces and many other community regimes, thus providing free of charge security for this magnificent listed building that will be laid to waste if not utilised soon. I do not have much faith in the Minister, Deputy Shatter, doing anything with it given the manner in which he treated the soldiers of that barracks and the people of south Tipperary.

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