Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State's commitment to this issue along with that of his ministerial colleague. Deployment is a matter for the Garda Commissioner but, on his appointment, he said that crime is not like rain in that it does not fall evenly everywhere. It was therefore very surprising when we discovered, through the report, Ballymun - A Brighter Future, that the Dublin northern division has the eighth lowest number of gardaí among the 28 districts. If we remove the 50 gardaí who are based in Dublin Airport and are not available to the community, the division has the fourth lowest number of gardaí in the country. I appreciate it is a matter for the Garda Commissioner but it is a crucial matter in dealing with this report. Issues relating to open drug dealing undermine the confidence of the community in the entire system of the State. If people can see drugs being dealt openly on corners in their area and do not see An Garda Síochána acting on it, they will ask why the State is not responding. The matter is therefore crucial to the community's confidence in An Garda Síochána.

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