Dáil debates
Thursday, 21 October 2021
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
An Garda Síochána
11:00 am
Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source
I thank the Minister of State for his response. I listened to the figures for Garda numbers in Donegal and compared them with the answers to similar questions, for example, on Garda numbers in Longford. It is interesting that Donegal has three times the population of Longford and is probably five times its size but has proportionally fewer gardaí available to it. This is very worrying, particularly for my area in the south-west of the county where Killybegs, Glenties and Ardara are the larger towns. There are basically two gardaí on duty in that whole area which has a population of 30,000 or 40,000 people. That is nearly as many people as live in County Longford, yet there are only two gardaí on duty. In effect, gardaí cannot answer calls because they do not have the numbers to do so. This is very worrying and needs to be addressed.
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