Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the response. We all agree community policing is very much at the front line and has proven itself to be extremely effective over the past decade in tackling antisocial and street crime.

Through a parliamentary question earlier this year, I asked for the number of gardaí in County Longford. The response was that there had been 139 gardaí in the county as of 30 September. I am concerned that this figure includes those who were injured on duty and those on long-term sick leave, officers who are incapacitated and not yet pensioned off, officers working in offices owing to chief medical officer certification because of incapacitation, and gardaí still assigned to County Longford but who are operating in other roles. Although I am aware that deployment is an operational matter for the Garda, it is important that we get a definite figure for the number of gardaí operating across the country to reassure the public.

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