Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On the commitment to community policing in the programme for Government, on Tuesday I received a response from the Tánaiste to a parliamentary question I tabled concerning the number of community gardaí in the Lucan and Clondalkin areas. The question was part of a series of questions related to the west side of Dublin where there is a serious crime problem and, as the Tánaiste will be aware, a horrific murder took place in recent days. The reply I received indicated that six community gardaí had been allocated to Lucan, an area in which tens of thousands of people live, and a glorious total of seven community gardaí had been allocated to Clondalkin. This effectively means that an urban area which, unfortunately, is experiencing a serious problem and is affected by the spillover of the gang crime that is disfiguring Dublin and other parts of the country, has almost no community gardaí. This matter is the responsibility of the Tánaiste, as the Minister for Justice and Equality, although I acknowledge that direct line responsibility lies with the Garda Commissioner. Is the Tánaiste speaking to the Commissioner? Does she consider that six community gardaí for Lucan and seven for Clondalkin in any way adequate? Incidentally, the number of community gardaí in Blanchardstown is not much higher.

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