Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to highlight what has happened in my neck of the woods, in Sneem and Lauragh. Sneem, which always had two gardaí and a sergeant, is reduced to a part-time garda who is only available for an hour now and then. At certain times of the year the population of Sneem trebles and more, with an influx of visitors from all over the world.

Lauragh Garda station was closed down two years after €300,000 had been spent on it. Lauragh is 17 miles from Kenmare, the nearest Garda station on the eastern side, and 20 miles from Castletownbere, the next nearest Garda station. The Minister should review that and see how wrong it was to do that to the people on the southern side of Kenmare Bay. The people of Sneem are 17 miles from Kenmare Garda station, 30 miles from Killarney Garda station and 37 miles from Cahirciveen Garda station. It cannot be right that the entire area is not properly policed and gardaí are not visible on the ground. They do their best and come from the nearest Garda stations now and then, but it is not enough. In that vast expanse of Kenmare Bay, all the piers along each side of the bay are open now for the delivery and importation of drugs. There is nothing in the world to stop it because the drug runners will know that when the Garda car is parked in Kenmare, Killarney or Cahirciveen it is not in Sneem or Lauragh or along the bay. I ask the Minister to review that decision urgently and put a full complement of gardaí into Sneem Garda station and do likewise in Lauragh for the protection and safety of the people, because it takes too long for a Garda car or presence to arrive when something happens.

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