Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, for his response. I fully concur with his remarks about Chief Superintendent Scanlan. I welcome the excellent news that the figures for burglaries are down in the division. However, one burglary to those affected is one too many. I know that there will always be a drive to keep these figures down.

I also acknowledge that the Garda Commissioner is in fact responsible and not the Minister directly. However, anecdotally I am advised that there are specific numbers of gardaí allocated to certain divisions. I have in mind of the west Offaly area in particular. I am keen to ensure that those who are allocated and deployed to cover the area are in fact physically present in the area. I would greatly appreciate any effort that the Minister can make on behalf of myself and the communities who have been affected to ensure that each station is adequately covered by the number of staff allocated. I am keen to ensure that the number allocated to the stations in Ferbane, Cloghan and Banagher are actually deployed there.

I know the Minister will want to ensure that the resources allocated are being allocated and used in a good way that will have a positive outcome. The moratorium on recruitment, which was imposed in 2010 by the then Fianna Fáil Government, has lifted and newly-trained gardaí are stationed in rural towns and villages. I am sure this will instil a measure of confidence in communities because gardaí will be visible on the ground and they will consider themselves in a better position to respond to any of the criminal activities that I outlined earlier.

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