Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept that. I recognise that the Tánaiste's role is at a policy level. It was her predecessor who introduced the policy of smart policing that led to the closure of Garda stations - I recognise that there was a necessity to do that in some instances. His idea at the time was that gardaí driving around in rural areas was an adequate policing system. I disagree fundamentally with that because I do not believe that it either gave confidence to local communities or that it was appropriate to address the risk associated with mobile criminal gangs. Nothing substitutes for gardaí remaining in an area, being close to the people and having a connection with them. Smart policing, as I see it, based on the way the previous Minister defined it as gardaí driving through rural areas and making something like one visit per week, is not the appropriate model. I hope that, through the Tánaiste's good offices and her different approach to the Department of Justice and Equality, she would impress upon the Commissioner the necessity to have a much greater link between the Garda and the community. That speaks to the necessity to have community policing front and centre in the context of the overall policing strategy, a matter in respect of which the Tánaiste does, in consultation with the Commission, have an input.

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