John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While the Minister is very welcome to this debate, like my colleagues, I am disappointed that the Minister for Justice and Equality has not found it possible to attend because this is a very serious issue and we are coming to it from four different constituencies across the greater Dublin area.

I want to preface my remarks by putting on the record both my appreciation and the appreciation of thousands of our constituents and our community for the work that is done daily by the men and women of An Garda Síochána. It is precisely because they value the work of An Garda Síochána that we are here today because they are under-resourced in Dublin. The figures have been outlined. In the past year in Dublin we have had a reduction of 100 gardaí. Dublin has a growing population. It has increased economic activity yet all the figures are down, whether it is in each of our metropolitan areas, in terms of community gardaí and the Garda Reserve.

I looked at my diary before coming into the Chamber. Next week and the following week I have meetings in two communities, one in Rathcoole and the other in Palmerstown.

Policing is top of the agenda in both areas. The communities have clearly referred to the fact that they do not have the Garda presence they traditionally had. In my area, DMR west, the numbers have declined by 129 from 788 in 2010 to 659. What does it mean and is it significant? In the likes of Rathcoole Garda station it means a decline from 26 gardaí to 15. That means a Garda station which is supposed to be open during the day is only open subject to a garda being available.

Most of the serious and gangland crime committed over the last year or two has occurred in the greater Dublin area. Part of the impact is the way in which crime scenes take gardaí away from their normal duties. Crime scenes must be protected and door-to-door inquiries must take place. The Garda presence one would normally see on the ground is not there. One of the best assets An Garda Síochána has is the community garda. Community gardaí earn the respect of the communities in which they work and they act as a liaison between communities and various other Garda units. In my area, the number of community gardaí has declined by 24 to just 65.

While I am disappointed the Minister is not here, I could nearly have written the reply he will have given the Minister of State. It will refer to the reopening of Templemore in 2014 and his target of 15,000 gardaí by 2021. It will refer to increased civilianisation and new targets for the Garda Reserve. We have heard it all before. The problem is that as Templemore has sent increased numbers of gardaí to other stations, Dublin has experienced a continuous decline across every metropolitan district. That is the crux of the problem. The Minister of State cannot give us that stock reply. Year after year, the Government is recruiting and training gardaí and then distributing them to other areas at the expense of Dublin where we have serious crime, a growing population and increased economic activity.

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