Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate it is an operational matter and the Minister cannot be expected to be aware of all of the detail. However, I have been informed that members of the ERU or the armed support units, which are organised on a regional basis, will not necessarily be available within Cork city if an incident were to occur. The detectives who have undergone training feel very exposed and at risk. They feel they are not being given the capacity to neutralise a threat that they may be the first people to have to confront. That is the situation on the ground.

There is a dispute between the GRA, representing the detectives and Garda management. It needs to be resolved first and foremost to protect the welfare of the front-line gardaí and detectives to ensure no unnecessary harm is caused to members of the public or indeed to the perpetrator, who certainly would not deserve a gun being deployed in an incident that could properly be dealt with through the use of a non-lethal Taser. I ask the Minister to follow up.

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