Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have seen the closure of 139 Garda stations. We were told that this would allow greater flexibility and that gardaí would be more visible, active and high profile but in reality, that has not happened. One also wonders what is happening with those 139 stations. The buildings were all of some importance in their local communities. In Kildare, for example, we saw three Garda stations close and I heard a debate on local radio this morning about one such station in the village of Ballitore. The local community has asked that the building be made available to be used as a community facility. Are these the types of issues that can be discussed by the Cabinet sub-committee on justice? Can the Taoiseach envisage the Government giving an instruction to the Garda authorities, the OPW or whatever body is responsible to bring these buildings back into use? Given the current housing crisis, some might provide suitable accommodation to those in need of housing while others might be usefully converted into community centres.

Finally, I wish to refer to the drugs problem, which the Taoiseach must accept is at crisis point in both rural and urban areas. Often when we speak about drugs, we talk about our cities and large towns but we all know that the drugs problem is afflicting every town and village in rural Ireland. I recently visited a small housing estate of about 40 houses in my constituency. There are three heroin addicts living in the estate which is causing all manner of anti-social behaviour connected with the sale of drugs. Dealers are trekking in and out of the estate, selling drugs and trying to recruit others into addiction.

There is a host of issues on the justice agenda. Will the Taoiseach give us some indication that they will be tackled in the period ahead? I would like to see the Cabinet sub-committee on justice meeting on a more regular basis so that the recommendations in the report from the Garda Inspectorate and the findings of the report on the prison service could be acted on.

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