Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Ceann Comhairle. I will be sharting my time with Deputies Browne and Devlin.

At the outset I want to sincerely congratulate the Minister, Deputy Entee, and the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, on their promotion. It is good to see a young and capable team working together now in the Department of Justice and Equality and I wish them the very best of luck during their tenure.

There are a number of issues I will raise and in the first instance I will discuss the Garda contingency roster. This came into operation at the outset of the pandemic. Heretofore gardaí would have worked five days on, three days off, but now they are working on a four-day on, four-day off basis, and end up working a 12-hour shift. This is proving very popular with front-line gardaí. These are the men and women in blue,they are human beings who have families and the current roster allows them to work a more structured week. It is also having immense benefits on the ground, in that small rural stations are now seeing a nicer turnover of shifts and more coverage is given with more on-site and on the ground street policing. This roster is to run out in September and given how well it has gone and been received by the force and communities would the Minister consider extending it beyond the autumn and looking at having it as a more permanent arrangement.

The next matter I want to touch on is staffing levels. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 Templemore College had to close and the students were assigned back to their home counties. They now line out on duty with their Garda colleagues. In Clare there was a gain of 12 personnel and in the Limerick Garda division there was a gain of 25 personnel. I refer to the Limerick division because the Limerick Garda division overlaps into a considerable portion of Clare. That has been quite beneficial to both Garda divisions where we have seen more policing on the ground which has helped crime detection. Naturally, when Templemore reopens, there is an expectation that these young trainee gardaí will return to college and that those numbers will be lost. Insofar as is possible I hope over the next 12 months or so that we will try to get back to those figures because I can assure the Minister that they have been well appreciated in my constituency.

The next issue is the mooted Garda retirement age. It has long been talked about that this might increase from 60 to 62 years of age. Gardaí can retire after 30 years service, but many gardaí feel when they reach the age of 60 that they are fit, healthy and well enough, and they want to keep working in the force. That should be looked at.

A further issue is Ardnacrusha Garda station in my own locality. We have four gardaí there at present serving population of 10,553 people.

In ratio terms that is one garda to every 2,600 citizens, which fairs very poorly across county averages. Across Clare there is a county average of one garda to every 350 citizens and in the Limerick division there is one garda to every 332 citizens. I refer the Minister to the situation in Ardnacrusha in particular. The Government of the 1920s recognised the strategic importance of having a Garda station there given it is in the immediate proximity to the Ardnacrusha power station. It is in the footfall of the University of Limerick, and it is also in the shadow of Limerick city and the Knockalisheen direct provision centre is located there. There is also a very high population of young people in this area. It is much appreciated that we have a Garda presence there. It is a complex area to police and co-ordinate and there is need for higher staffing levels there.

I note there is no Sinn Féin Deputy here but I would like to speak to a particular issue nonetheless. I was appalled that Republican Sinn Féin wrote to a plethora of Deputies last week concerning Liam Campbell and his extradition to Lithuania. We all know Liam Campbell has been held civilly liable for the Omagh bombing. I was asked by Republican Sinn Féin to lobby the Taoiseach and the Government to oppose his extradition. As I said, there are no Sinn Féin Deputies here at the moment but I note that its MEP, Martina Anderson, has also written to the former Taoiseach to oppose that extradition. We need some clarity on that. I sincerely hope the Taoiseach and this Government would resist all efforts to stop that extradition. I do not think we should be meddling in such issues. People who keep such company would want to have a good look at themselves.

I hope the Minister will have an opportunity later to respond to some of the issues I have raised.

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