Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will put some statistics on the record. There are 564 Garda stations in the State. This compares very favourably with comparable jurisdictions. For example, in Northern Ireland in 2012, there were 86 police stations providing policing services to a population of €1.5 million. In Scotland, the ratio is approximately 340 stations to 5.2 million people. We have to bear that in mind and ask the question: what is the best type of police force and police response that we need to see in order to deal with emerging crime trends? What does twenty-first century policing look like? It is very important that we have a mobile and visible force responding to crime in various areas. I take the point the Deputy is making that people feel a reassurance from local Garda stations, but we have to examine precisely what works best. That is what we are trying to do in looking at the police strategy and the role of the Policing Authority and in overseeing the priority areas that An Garda Síochána has identified for the coming year and the future.

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