Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

No additional stations will be closed this year beyond the 39 announced at the end of 2011, eight of which had already been closed and were not functioning. A considerable number of others were open for two or three hours in the day. The busiest stations that were closed were not rural stations. They were the three Dublin stations in Dalkey, Harcourt Terrace and Whitehall. The perception of the Commissioner was, I understand, that we had a substantial number of stations in Dublin and that for operational effectiveness and to use resources wisely the closure of those stations was appropriate in the context of the large number of stations in Dublin. The closures have been a great deal greater - they were not all in isolated rural areas.

In isolated rural areas, the greatest assistance the Garda can give is not to be sitting inside the walls of a station but to be out and about, available to be called in police cars and engaging in whatever investigations are required. I would prefer to see gardaí engaged with the community rather than sitting behind a desk in a station.

It is for the Commissioner to determine, based on operational effectiveness, the stations to keep open and the appropriate stations to close.

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