Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not accept this answer. I do not accept it is correct to go back to 2010 to place the blame for all the problems. I am raising a problem, not just in regard to Garda numbers at a national level, which, thankfully, are increasing under the confidence and supply agreement, but in regard to the disparity in Garda resources between different parts of the country. This is outrageous and is not accepted by the citizenry of this country, certainly not by my constituents. There are a lot more burglaries in my area and a lot fewer gardaí than in a neighbouring county, when there does not seem to be any objective justification for this. Westmeath is not a Border county and there are no special Garda units at national level that are based there, or none I am aware of. This is wrong. Criminals are aware of this. There is no point covering it up - they know this. They know we have an excellent motorway network. There are four motorways throughout this Garda district - the M1 at Stamullen and Gormanston, the M2, the M3 and the M4, which goes through parts of the constituency or is adjacent to it. These are providing easy access in and out in regard to burglaries and, indeed, anti-social behaviour, as we have seen in recent weeks.

I agree with the Minister of State on the need to encourage everybody to give any information they have to An Garda Síochána. I wish An Garda Síochána all the very best with its investigations. However, it is my contention that it simply does not have enough men and women on the ground to do the job the State expects it to do. This will have to be taken seriously. It is a threat to good order and governance in this country that there is this sort of disparity. I know senior gardaí at a local level are shouting about this internally but it is not being listened to. It is about time someone listened and said that while this is a new area, and while these are not towns which traditionally had a huge population, they do now and they need to be recognised as such.

The crime levels which are publicly available from the Central Statistics Office make the case that I am making. The Minister of State said the number of gardaí in the Meath division is 293. My figure from a few weeks ago is 295 so have we lost two gardaí, even in the last few weeks. It is heartbreaking and frustrating to me and my constituents.

See this speech in context