Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A decision was made in 2012 by the then Garda Commissioner with the consent of the Minister for Justice and Equality. At the time, I described it as the worst decision made in policing in County Wexford since independence. I will provide the Minister of State with some background.

The current Garda district of Gorey and Enniscorthy is now the Enniscorthy Garda district. I held a meeting at the time with the assistant commissioner, Jack Nolan. Our figures showed a population of 85,000. Let us put that in context. That is larger than the populations of counties Carlow, Longford, Westmeath, Leitrim, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo, Cavan, Offaly or Laois. Some of those counties have a single Garda district. Carlow has a population of 55,000, Leitrim has a population of 32,000 and Laois has 78,000. The Gorey Garda district has a population of 85,000. It is too large.

We have a problem with crime and with the area being the largest growth area in the county by a long way. We also have a problem with it being a significant tourist area. I will set out another statistic. In the 2011 census, the Courtown area registered a population of 5,500 and some 4,000 homes, 52% of which were unoccupied. There are difficulties and problems. The decision dating from 2012 on the part of the Minister for Justice and Equality at the time and the Garda Commissioner at the time was terrible.

All five Deputies and Senators at the time said that it was a bad idea. Moreover, today, all five sitting Deputies want to have the Gorey Garda district reinstated to the status it had prior to the decision in 2012. At the time there was one district in Gorey, one district in Enniscorthy, one superintendent and various ancillary staff.

The original decision in 2012 was to reduce all staff above the rank of sergeant. The civilian staff, four in number, along with the inspector were to go with the superintendent as well. It was correct that that did not happen and I believe that was a good decision. Now, what is badly required is to go the rest of the way, which means the full reinstatement of the district with a 24-hour station, a superintendent, inspectors, sergeants and the appropriate number of gardaí for a fast-growing area.

The population of the Gorey area increased at twice the national average in the period 2011 to 2016. It also increased at 2.5 times the rate of growth for County Wexford as a whole. We know that 52% of the population increase in County Wexford has been in the Gorey area alone. The area is growing fast and strongly.

It is now time to rescind the decision going back to 2012 made in line with the programme for Government. It is now time to reinstate the Gorey Garda district fully. We need one district, one superintendent and one or two inspectors, as appropriate, depending on the population base. We need to do this correctly. It was a bad mistake and now is the time to rectify it. The decision is now with the Garda authorities.

See this speech in context