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

I will share time with Deputy Michael Colreavy.

Fianna Fáil has a hard neck to speak about cutbacks to Garda stations. In November 2008, my party colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, who was then a Senator, published a document entitled Awakening the West, which documented how rural communities were being hammered by the Government. The Government at that time was a Fianna Fáil and Green Party coalition. By November 2008, almost half of all the Garda stations in Cork, Kerry, Clare, Galway and Roscommon had been reduced to one garda operating on a part-time basis. In many of those cases, Garda stations were closed on Sundays and opening hours during the week were limited to 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Even at that time, the limited opening hours and lack of Garda strength in rural stations gave rise to the perception that Garda services were ceasing to exist in many rural areas. There were towns where there was no Garda service for miles around. This all took place under the watch of Fianna Fáil.

At the 2009 annual conference of the Garda Representative Association, GRA, the then president, Michael O'Boyce, warned that the government was driving experience out of An Garda Síochána and that a rising number of members of all ranks, who could and who wanted to continue to serve the country, were considering retirement. A year later, at the 2010 annual conference, he confirmed that, sadly, his warning proved correct. In one Garda division alone, numbers were down by 20 in the recent months. He also pointed out at that conference that, disgracefully, there were no students in the Garda college for the first time in its history and that due to government policy, there would be no students in the college for a long time to come. He went on to say that An Garda Síochána was contracting due to the direct action of the government, that experience was being driven out and no new blood was coming in and that this was pushing the force to the brink of disaster.

What was the Fianna Fáil response to this? Its current justice spokesperson, Deputy Niall Collins, called for the outgoing president of the GRA, Michael O'Boyce, to be removed from the force by the then Garda Commissioner, Fachtna Murphy. The current Government is implementing Fianna Fáil’s 2010 national recovery plan when it comes to Garda cuts, the deal Fianna Fáil negotiated with the troika. Fianna Fáil agreed with the troika to cut Garda numbers from 14,500 that year to 13,500 the following year and to 13,000 in 2014, a total drop of 10%. Its plan also stated that there would be €25 million in savings from unspecified Garda management efficiencies and €140 million savings in overtime, allowances and transport costs, much of it within the force. Is the public expected to believe that Fianna Fáil has now seen the error of its ways? Increasing Garda strength could have been achieved by continuing the process of civilianising Garda administrative services to international standards. This would also have created valuable local employment for civilians.

In a 2007 report, Policing in Ireland - Looking Forward, the Garda inspectorate found that in many instances small rural stations were serviced by one officer, answering to a district headquarters, but mostly operating alone without ready access to supervisors, an official car or Garda IT systems. The inspectorate recommended the implementation of a consistent rural policing model that enhances visibility and makes best use of Garda resources in serving local communities. A centralised Garda service will increase rural isolation and undermine the people's sense of security in their homes. There is increasing evidence that police station closures can lead to an increase in crime. In England, where rural services have seen similar cutbacks in police services, crime figures have surged. Violent crime rose by 119% in country areas between 1988 and 1989 and 2006 and 2007 compared with a national increase of 108% that year.

I met the Assistant Garda Commissioner, Kieran Kenny, in Donegal last week, after the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI, withdrew from talks on the extension of the Croke Park agreement, saying it would not tolerate further cuts in pay. The reason I, along with my colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty, asked to meet the Assistant Commissioner, was to discuss policing in Donegal, where attacks on old people in their homes have caused devastation to their lives and worry and stress to their families. In some cases, such attacks have forced older people to leave the homes they have lived in all their lives.

I received assurances An Garda Síochána has taken steps to combat these attacks in Donegal. A specific operation, operation LEAH, has been put in place, providing extra personnel and resources to the area. The Assistant Commissioner reported that 11 arrests have been made on both sides of the Border and some stolen property has been recovered.

This kind of Garda operation should be the norm, rather than the exception, all over the State. It should not take a crisis, like that which happened in County Donegal, for the force to be properly resourced. I commend the gardaí in County Donegal on their actions. They should not have had to wait for 11 aggravated burglaries to happen before the Government gave them the resources to address these crimes. If one speaks to gardaí in any part of the State, they will tell one that they fear they can no longer provide a service to the public. Both representative organisations recognise the seriousness of the situation.

The news that another 100 Garda stations are to close is a serious blow to rural Ireland as well as to some urban communities which have already suffered disproportionately under the cuts regime imposed by this Government and its predecessor. This savage attack will also see certain rural Garda districts being amalgamated into 14 districts as part of an effort to centralise in urban areas the policing of huge swathes of rural Ireland. Perhaps this aspect of the Government's plans has been overlooked because of the focus on Garda station closures. The amalgamation and centralisation of rural policing in more urban areas is also a big challenge.

The Irish Farmers Association, which represents rural Ireland, and the Garda Representative Association, which represents the vast majority of gardaí, have repeatedly rejected these ongoing station closures. Unlike those who were in charge of drafting the Government's proposals, those involved with the two associations know rural communities and appreciate the value of community policing. According to an IFA survey, more than 10% of farmers have been victims of crime. The challenge of trying to square police statistics for reported crime with surveys showing that many people do not report more minor crimes is being faced internationally. It should not be the case that people are not willing to report crime, but sadly it is. It means that official statistics do not give us an accurate reflection of the true levels of crime. That is an international phenomenon and an issue in Ireland.

The Government has been attempting to spin its reform of policing structures, but we all know that the austerity agenda is at work under the mask of reform. This work was commenced under Fianna Fáil and it is being continued. Fianna Fáil has a brass neck to have tabled this motion tonight. Deputy Niall Collins has been around politics a while. He knows it very well. Nobody has been fooled by this motion. The facts speak for themselves. We recall what happened when the then president of the Garda Representative Association, Michael O'Boyce, spoke the truth. When the then Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, was presented with a draft of the speech by Mr. O'Boyce he decided not to bother showing up at the association's annual event. He was unwilling to take the heat and deal with the implications of the decisions his Government had taken over the previous two years.

Just two years have passed since Mr. O'Boyce delivered his speech. I do not believe the people of this country are suffering from some kind of collective amnesia, they have a clear memory. Fianna Fáil has shown that it is determined to go ahead with the debate on this motion over the next two days, despite the Minister and the Government calling on it not to do so. I agree with them on this occasion. This motion will fool nobody and will achieve nothing for Fianna Fáil. The debate on the important issue of Garda resources will be diminished as a result of Fianna Fáil's decision to force this motion to a vote tomorrow evening.

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