Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister talks about a reduced charge. I am aware of a festival in Donegal which struggles to raise funds every year. They got some funding from local government or arts bodies for their festival. They were charged €4,000 for policing by An Garda Síochána - €3,000 up front and €1,000 afterwards - which was more than the grant aid they had received from other government bodies. The gardaí in Donegal are very upset about this. They feel it is bad enough that their resources in the county have been cut back, the numbers of gardaí have come down and their relationship with local communities is struggling as a result, but then they have to go and charge the organisers €4,000 for policing of a festival that is invested back into the local community. That is merely one example and I could give the Minister many more. I believe the Minister needs to amend the section 30 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005. The intent was to charge for big stadia, such as Croke Park and the Aviva Stadium, but local not-for-profit festivals should not be contributing. The gardaí themselves do not want it. They are in an impossible situation. I am asking the Minister to amend the legislation.

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