Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our colleague, Deputy Niall Collins, for giving us the opportunity to discuss this issue. I join all my colleagues in sympathising with the family and colleagues of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe on their unspeakable loss last Friday. This was not only an attack on a garda or a community but was an attack on everyone of us. I come from a county where a fair share of gardaí have lost their lives in the service to the State. I think tonight of John Morley, Henry Byrne, Michael Padden and Robbie McCallion, who all died in the service of the State, giving up their lives.

The Minister will know my feelings. When any garda dies in the service of the State the person who causes that death should be given the full mandatory sentence of 40 years, regardless of the circumstances because such people go out to cause these deaths. I put forward legislation on that matter. It was probably unintentional but a feeling was expressed in the media that gardaí who are shot should be treated better in remembrance than those who died in service, whose names were not mentioned. I refer to Robbie McCallion who lost his life in the service of the people of Donegal. His family equally deserves having the full rigours of the law applied to those who caused his death.

The outpouring of grief throughout the country in the days since Detective Garda Donohoe's death shows the respect which people have for gardaí. As Deputy Ó Fearghaíl stated, we expect members of the force to dance with evil every night on our behalf and to protect us from that evil. The idea of community is at the heart of the Garda's mandate. It is also at the heart of people's respect for the force. The decision to close so many Garda stations with indecent haste from tomorrow will undermine that community mandate. We have in place joint policing committees which are very effective and successful and which have afforded people a good opportunity to participate. However, the reorganisation to which the Minister referred and which many of his colleagues have welcomed should have been aired at the joint policing committees before the decision to close particular stations was taken.

I accept that there are Garda stations which are obsolete. However, there are many on the Minister's list which are fully functional and which have a role to play. Deputy Mulherin and, I presume, Deputy O'Mahony - whose contribution I did not hear - have already referred to the case of Ballycastle. The Minister will be aware of how isolated is Ballycastle and of how far away is the next nearest station. Ballycastle is home to the Ceide Fields centre, which attracts 25,000 visitors each year, and to some of the most stunning sea cliffs on our coast. The latter attract divers, tourists and, unfortunately, other types of individuals. As a result, a Garda presence is required.

We are not concerned here with bricks and mortar. There is a complete misunderstanding at ministerial, departmental and medial level in this regard. We are not talking here about gardaí behind desks, we are referring to their being embedded in communities. One cannot measure what would be the impact of a crime which is stopped before it happens. Nor can one say what would have happened to someone who was becoming wayward but who was put on the right track. Such crimes and individuals never feature in statistics. People who live in communities such as Ballycastle and elsewhere are frustrated because they have invested time in stopping crimes before they were committed. As a result of the fact that the crime figures relating to these places are low, they are paying the price by losing their Garda stations. In the future, the gardaí who serve these towns and villages will operate out of their briefcases and will be obliged to hope that someone might provide them with a room out of which they might operate and provide services.

There is no doubt about the individual commitment of the gardaí involved. These officers will continue to do their jobs. However, as Deputy Ó Fearghaíl stated, people move on. The commitment which is based on having a relatively substantial presence in place will be broken. There is a lack of information and engagement in respect of how it is proposed to proceed in respect of this matter.

I was frustrated by Deputy Regina Doherty's remarks to the effect that crime levels have been subdued since the closure of a number of stations last year. I can bring the Deputy on a visit to County Mayo. Deputy Mulherin will attest to the number of break-ins which have occurred there in recent months. I accept that Operation Fiacla has made an impact but it did nothing to prevent the crimes to which I refer. One of the issues which arises in respect of those break-ins relates to the number that were carried out by people with previous convictions, by those who are out on bail or by individuals who served time in the past. When those to whom I refer get out of prison, the crime figures begin to rise again. It is clear that there are legislative as well as resource issues to be reviewed. It should not be the case that people who are out on bail or who have served sentences and been released from prison just return to their activities and carry on with business as normal. These individuals do not seem to have learned their lesson. This is a matter which we are going to be obliged to examine.

Deputy Regina Doherty - who was obviously the best girl in class and was chosen to read the press office's script - stated that Colm McCarthy recommended that the previous Government should close 300 Garda stations. We did not do that. The Deputy also referred to a lack of capital investment. Ballycastle Garda station was the subject of substantial capital investment. Loughglynn Garda station was closed last year. As its closure was being announced by the Minister, a new roof was being installed. That is the difficulty. The management of stations is the responsibility of the OPW, while it is gardaí who occupy them. There is a lack of communication in respect of this matter. There has been capital investment in the stations that are being closed. It must be remembered that the Minister is not closing buildings, he is damaging the link between communities and their gardaí. In the absence of information as to how the existing relationship will be maintained, a vacuum will be created and that will not be good.

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