Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the argument made by my colleague, Deputy Connolly, and the amendment tabled by Deputy Pringle. The objective behind the amendment is to place an obligation on Garda management with regard to manpower.

I will reference that issue in relation to the Roscommon district of An Garda Síochána. In the past three years, 25 gardaí have left the district through promotion, transfer and retirement and none of them has been replaced. Quite frequently, there are only three gardaí on duty in Roscommon. One has to be based in the Garda station. This is a massive district going from Ballyleague to Shannonbridge, adjoining four counties. On Saturday, 4 October, there was one member left in that district where the car was called to a situation in County Longford, which left the subdistrict of Clonark without any garda. There are supposed to be seven or eight gardaí on average in the unit and that has been the case in Roscommon in recent years, but at the moment we are down to three or four. It is not good enough. We need to see gardaí appointed to address this problem.

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