Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am not saying anything about that but there are other Ministers of State in the Department.

The new divisional headquarters location for the Tipperary and Clare Garda division makes no sense. The local perception is of bewilderment and the decision has sapped morale. I respect the idea that the Garda Síochána must change and I even welcome that change. My county has access to two of the longest motorways in Ireland and it touches six other counties. It is central to much of the transport in Ireland.

The idea that the headquarters for the divisional area would be in Ennis is frankly insane. The proposal is even more bizarre than that. The Tipperary and Clare division does not make sense. We will have a divisional headquarters in Ennis sandwiched between Garda divisions in Limerick and Galway, meaning there will be three headquarters along the west coast and none in Tipperary. This does not make sense for members of An Garda Síochána. No one can tell me that the gardaí who will deal with the headquarters in Ennis will not have to start travelling to the town. Gardaí from Tipperary will have to travel through another division in Limerick to reach their divisional headquarters in Ennis. As someone who lives right beside the Ballina-Killaloe bridge, the Minister can trust me when I say it would be quicker to go through Limerick. That is why we need a new bridge.

The decision-making process was based on five criteria, namely, population, level of crime, workload, projected growth of the area and geography. With the greatest of respect to my good friends in County Clare, Tipperary is miles ahead of Clare on all five of these criteria.

We met the Garda Commissioner last Friday and I respect his decision to attend a meeting of the joint policing committee in Tipperary. He acknowledged after questioning that there may have been other reasons. If the criteria point to one decision but another decision is made, it shows a lack of transparency. This results in innuendo and other commentary, which I neither welcome nor want to hear. The metrics do not add up for this decision.

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