Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This Garda policing plan was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas on budget day and following that, cuts were made to the service and the money available. One of the goals of the plan is to ensure we have safe communities, but how can we have a plan that is a work of fiction and ensure we have safe communities?

The policing plan is supposed to be constructed annually and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The distribution of gardaí is supposed to be determined by the Garda management and should be based on population trends, crime trends and policing needs. Why then does a county like Kildare have only half the number of gardaí for its population compared to other parts of the country, although it has been demonstrated that it has increased rates of crimes such as burglaries and drug possession? I know of one estate where every second house has been burgled, although that estate is quite close to a station involved in policing that area. The station in question is Celbridge Garda station, which polices 30,000 people over a radius of 35 square kilometres. The only police car for that station was burnt out by vandals at Hallowe'en and was not replaced until the new year.

How is it possible to offer such communities a safe police service when this sort of thing happens? It cannot be done. Not only are our communities being put at risk, but gardaí themselves are being put at risk because there is no back-up for them.

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