Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. I sincerely hope the Commissioner looks at Wicklow because Wicklow has seen a continual decline in Garda numbers since 2009. In 2009, there were 360, which reduced to 355, 339, 334, 328 and all the way down to 299 in 2017. Last year, the number of inspectors decreased from nine to five. The number in our traffic corps has reduced from 30 to 16. The number of our community gardaí has reduced from 23 to 13. The number of Garda reservists has gone from 41 down to 20. This is unfair. The Commissioner has to look at it. We are all aware of rural crime. The Minister mentioned it. My colleague has mentioned before, as I have, the importance of CCTV to detect crimes concerning those coming off the motorways from Dublin.

The last time I spoke to the Minister in the Chamber I mentioned CCTV for Arklow and I thank him for ensuring that funding has come through for Arklow. The town team is working its way through that process. I thank the Minister for that.

We have seen a continual decline in Garda numbers for nearly ten years in Wicklow and we need to address it moving forward.

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