Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Ceann Comhairle, the Tánaiste, everybody here and the staff a happy, holy and peaceful Christmas. I realise the staff work all night trying to get Bills and things arranged. The Business Committee agrees on something but it is torn up the morning after.

I acknowledge the new Garda force in Dublin and the new equipment and recruitment for Templemore. The Garda station in Clonmel is Dickensian and not fit for purpose. A new station for Clonmel was announced some years ago by the Minister's predecessor, Alan Shatter, but nothing has happened. In the largest inland town in the country, gardaí are expected to work in a station not fit for human habitation or for public use. There are no proper rooms in which statements can be taken. I asked the Tánaiste to visit and see it at first hand. The Department of Justice and Equality has acquired a site of an old Army barracks from the county council. Will the Tánaiste do something to make Clonmel Garda station better for the gardaí serving under Superintendent William Leahy, as well as for the public?

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