Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In any event, the Garda Commissioner recommended that particular stations be closed. The Government did not pick from a list and say it was closing certain stations. Obviously, what happened in many areas where a station was closed was that the superintendent or chief superintendent in the area used the time the gardaí would have been in the station in question to travel around the community to make himself or herself known and engage with the community and give it a contact number if ever it needed assistance, day or night. That has been a useful addition in many areas of the country. I am not sure what the recommendations of the Garda Commissioner will be. It is in the programme for Government that six stations, urban and rural, will be opened. Obviously, the Garda Commissioner will form a view on that in consultation with her people.

I am not sure about what the Deputy says about the north side of the river in Kenmare. That seems to be all right but the south side seems to be in difficulty, according to the Deputy's question. He is aware that we provided serious money to the gardaí to deal with Operation Thor, which put a lot of the gangs involved in burglaries out of business. That action continues to keep people safe in their homes. We hope communities will stay alert in notifying gardaí if incidents happen.

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