Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am really surprised that it was not withdrawn. It is a deeply cynical, dishonest motion, and even Fianna Fáil should have had sufficient insight to have recognised the inappropriateness of proposing, debating and voting on such a motion at this time. Tonight is not the night for this House to divide and engage in politics as usual with regard to any matter affecting An Garda Síochána.

As has every Member, I express my deepest sympathy to the family of Detective Garda Donohoe, a young man who is leaving a young wife and family after him. He put his life on the line to protect us and protect democracy. I hope he will rest in peace.

Fianna Fáil has surpassed itself with its memory loss over the past two nights. It is not often that Sinn Féin supports the Minister but even it could not hold back on the breathtaking hypocrisy we heard from the party that sold this country down the river and ensured the taxpayer was left to pay for the mess it left behind. The fact that it was the party that agreed with the EU-IMF to reduce Garda numbers to 13,000 speaks for itself and does not warrant further comment.

The Commissioner has the full backing of the Minister in his endeavours to bring about meaningful change in the force. The suggestion that the Minister is absolving himself and pointing the finger at Garda management for the closure of Garda stations must be rejected outright and shows how little the Deputies know about the law of the land. As required under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner prepared his draft policing plan for 2013. In doing so, he carried out an assessment of the potential for improved efficiencies in the structure and organisation of the Garda Síochána. His objective is, as always, to provide the most effective policing service possible, within available resources, across the country. A key question that arose during that assessment was whether it was better to have highly trained members of the Garda Síochána confined to indoor duties when they could be available for front-line operational policing. The Garda Commissioner concluded that resources could be better deployed by closing some Garda stations and reducing the public opening hours of others at off-peak times, which in turn has released gardaí for operational duties. The gardaí will continue to work with the communities they serve and Garda management will continue to monitor closely the allocation of resources, taking account of transfers and retirements, crime trends, policing needs and other operational strategies in place on district, divisional and regional levels.

An allegation made was that the new roster is not working. It is working very well. All the reports from gardaí operating it suggest that they are quite happy with it and that it is working extremely well.

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