Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like all other speakers, I would like to express my sincere condolences upon the death of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe to his wife, his children, his family and the members of the force. This cuts very close to the bone for them. I would like to thank the Garda very much for maintaining law and order, which is the cornerstone of democracy and of all the freedoms we enjoy in this country today.

Those in Fianna Fáil have a brass neck - it is their brass-neck style that has not gone away - when they bring a motion before us to decry cuts in Garda resources and with their big talk about the need to reverse these cuts. This audacity is stomach-churning from a party that ran our economy into the ground. That we are still with the troika, including the IMF, is unbelievable. Fianna Fáil's own plan, the national recovery plan 2012-14, which would be current for this point in time, would see on average €90 million less in the budget for justice each year, yet Fianna Fáil is telling us what to do with resources. If the Minister had not secured moneys through savings within his Department, we would have had no new Garda vehicles on the road last year or this year. It is hard to take a motion like this.

The Minister has outlined extensively the extent to which changes, rationalisation and the different methods being employed to police our country have come about. All of this has only happened by virtue of reviews undertaken by the Garda Commissioner in conjunction with Garda management in the different divisions the length and breadth of the country. Therefore, the choices that have been made are informed choices. Indeed, for my part, having particular knowledge of the operation of gardaí in my county, in my town of Ballina in particular, and through working closely with them on the joint policing committee, I can only say I have absolute admiration for and confidence in the professionalism of gardaí and the way they go about solving crime. The more I attend committee meetings and the more we look at issues, whether it is anti-social behaviour or more serious crime, the more I become proud of the members of the force who are working on the ground.

We know the incidence of many classes of crime has reduced, for example, assault, public order offences, drugs offences and sexual offences, all of which should give us confidence. However, we know there is great fear, and that the great headline grabber, rightly so, is burglary and the thugs carrying out burglaries. We know of the successes in Operation Fiacla and, to return to my own area, I am very impressed by the methods local gardaí are employing in catching the individuals involved. "Thugs" is the only word for those individuals, given the fear they have struck in people.

One of the biggest concerns is the closure of 95 Garda stations tomorrow, six of them in my county - at Lahardane, Blacksod, Ballycastle, Ballyglass, Ballyvary and Hollymount. I respect the fact the Garda Commissioner has reviewed this and that the Minister has given his seal of approval to it following the review period. However, I must point out that every area is different and, even in my county where six stations are to close, some are definitely a cause of more concern than others. There should be provision for a review or some engagement with the Garda Commissioner to revisit certain cases.

For example, Ballycastle is 27 km from the next 24-hour Garda station along bad roads in a remote coastal area.

No matter what we say or how much confidence we can have in the new procedures we must acknowledge that the blue light shining over a Garda station gives people, especially those in rural areas a sense of safety and confidence. It is our job to impress upon them that whatever alternatives come forward people are safe and are being considered and that this is not just a case of cuts for the sake of cuts.

This engagement needs to come from Garda management in each division, at a public meeting where people can be told about the alternative arrangements which are adequate for community policing, such as the text alert system and CCTV in these villages reporting back to a main Garda station and the adequate provision of Garda costs.

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