Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is not the first time, unfortunately, I have had to raise this issue on the floor of the Dáil. When I raised it previously, the Minister for Justice and Equality said he did not see Border areas as special cases in respect of how policing plans are laid out and developed. He saw no distinction between the needs there and the needs in other parts of the country. Unfortunately, when that is the type of leadership coming from the Minister, it gives the wrong message to the public. Also, it is not the best type of leadership in terms of giving a message to the Garda about how the Government understands the particular needs. Although the day-to-day operations of the Garda are the responsibility of the Commissioner, it is the Minister who sets out the resources and who decides the number of gardaí he must work with.

The Minister of State outlined that we now have 412 gardaí in the county of Donegal. That is down from 466 at the end of 2010, over 54 personnel down. That is well in excess of a 10% decrease in only a couple of years, a significant decrease. We are seeing this in terms of gardaí being stretched on the ground to try to meet the particular needs of Border areas.

I call on the Minister of State to comment. Does he see Border areas as having particular needs or special circumstances which require particular policing needs? Do we require an acknowledgement from the Government in terms of the types of resources required? I realise recruitment is starting again, not before time, but we have a particular issue in respect of incidents in Border areas. The Government must respond to this and equip the Garda and the Garda Commissioner to respond.

I call on the Minister of State to provide more specific information to show that the Government has an understanding and acknowledges the difficulties that exist. It has not done so before. Will the Minister of State to give the House details, if possible, in terms of what the Government will do to assist the Commissioner in addressing these needs?

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