Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will appreciate that the deployment of gardaí and resources and how they are deployed are a matter for the Garda Commissioner. As Minister for Justice, I must make sure the resources are available and that gardaí are coming out of Templemore. As I mentioned earlier, more than 10,000 people have applied to the recent Garda recruitment campaign. That is very welcome. The more of them who come out on the beat as quickly as possible, the more they can be spread throughout the country and not just into areas of high density and high population, given the Deputy's reference to Dublin.

We can do a number of things to try to deal with not just the issue of drugs but also so much that is connected to it, such as criminality, gangs, younger people being dragged into that and the impact it has on our communities. Another way we are trying to deal with that is the community safety partnership, which is being rolled out in three pilot areas. That will come with a fund, money that is coming specifically from seizures of drugs and other things by the Garda. This funding will be available to communities to be able to implement schemes in their towns and villages to try to keep them safe. It is about the Garda working with all the State agencies and working with communities to make sure the supports and resources that suit their needs are there. What people need in Limerick might be different from what people need in Meath and different again from what people need in other counties.

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