Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

By the end of October each year, the Commissioner must, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, submit to the Minister a policing plan for the following year. Any proposals for the closure of Garda stations must be set out in the plan. The policing plan for 2013 has not yet been submitted to the Minister. While there is little point in engaging in speculation as to what specific measures it may contain, the Minister has made it clear that he expects it will address the further rationalisation of the Garda station network.

It is important to make the point that the objective of rationalising the station network is to deploy gardaí more effectively. What is needed, and what the public want to see, is the greatest possible deployment of gardaí on operational duties. If there are too many stations, then there will be too many gardaí tied to those stations instead of being available for patrol and direct engagement with the community. Much the same argument applies to the decision taken by the Garda Commissioner this year to close the public counter in certain Dublin stations at night, when very few people call in anyway and when anyone with an emergency rings the emergency services. This has freed up gardaí for operational duties in those areas and is an improvement in the policing service.

The Garda Commissioner and his senior management will assess carefully how best to strike the right balance between the optimum number of Garda stations and the most effective deployment of gardaí on operational duties. There may be different views in this House on what the precise outcome should be, but surely no one can claim with any credibility that we must maintain every single Garda station we have had since the foundation of the State, without regard to the revolution there has been in transport, communications and technology. The policing plan for 2013 will be laid before this House in due course, and I look forward to a discussion on its objectives.

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