Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It has been an interesting time in the context of the use of terminology to replace the word "cutbacks". The Minister of State has referred to "rationalising", "smart policing" and the Commissioner submitting his plan. The Minister for Justice and Equality has told the Commissioner that he must make the best use of the resources allocated. That is the reality and the buck stops with him in this regard.

I refer to the impact of this decision. Recently, the IFA surveyed 500 rural dwellers and half of them said they were concerned about policing in their area and believed it was getting worse. A total of 11% of them had been victims of crime. There is also the issue of people feeling there is no point reporting crime in rural areas. Martin Donnellan, former assistant Garda Commissioner, wrote an article in the The Sunday Business Post recently, in which he said:

We hear a lot these days about so-called smart policing but I wonder how the closure of Garda stations and the centralisation of policing outposts fit into this concept. The force will be limited in the intelligence it can obtain if it does not have the support of the public. This support has always been closely connected to the relationship between individual gardaí and the community.

He is seriously concerned.

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