Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The difficulty is that very many people who rely on Operation Fiacla believe it is gan fiacla because the gardaí are not sufficiently resourced. The Minister knows this because she represents an urban constituency not a million miles away from my own. She knows that the most common and sometimes the only complaint citizens have regarding the gardaí is the lengthy response time. They call the Garda but they are not in a position to respond promptly. It is the biggest frustration one comes across. That is in an urban setting. Let us transport ourselves to rural Ireland where we know there has been a spate of very high-profile and vicious attacks, particularly on elderly people. People living in remote areas are quite correctly ill at ease because they do not believe the service they require will get to them quickly enough to keep them safe.

Will the Minister at least acknowledge that the closure of almost 100 stations is a matter of grave public concern. Could she go beyond the generalised rhetoric she has offered and be far more specific about what the compensatory measures for those communities will be. Will there be additional gardaí? I support civilianisation as I believe it is the right thing to do. Will that be accelerated? How many gardaí will be freed up? Will the people in rural Ireland who are losing their stations at least know that there will be a Garda on the beat?

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