Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas le Teachtaí Connolly agus Pringle for giving us their time slot. I certainly welcome this legislation and I hope its passage is not impeded in any way, shape or form. It is a ridiculous situation that gardaí are going into the line of duty and as much, if not more, is paid to legal firms as is paid in compensation to those who deserve it. I condemn out of hand the incident some time ago in the Border area where a garda was lured down a bóithrín on his own and got an awful experience from thugs, which is all they can be called.

I saw a news report of a case where intruders or robbers broke into a house in Wexford. They found out in the course of the robbery that a garda owned the house and went out of their way to damage and destroy the house. There is no place for that kind of thuggery or for attacking or undermining the Garda. The vast majority of gardaí I have ever dealt with have been impeccable. They work to serve their communities and the people without fear or favour.

I pay tribute to Sergeant Ray Moloney who has been a considerable addition to the Cahir-Cashel district in recent years. He has now been transferred. We had a lovely function last Sunday, organised by the community, in the Cahir House Hotel, Cathair Dún Iascaigh. It was a nice tribute to Sergeant Moloney for the work he did in community policing. He was assisted by Garda Jenny Gough, Garda Noel Glavin and many others, including Garda Judy Davern and others. We need that sergeant replaced. We are getting two replacements but we need one in the community. No police force in the world can police without the support of the public. That support must be nurtured, minded and taught through, for example, visits to schools. The late Sergeant Niall O'Halloran was an awful loss to our community. He used to visit the schools and bring pupils in fifth and sixth class to Templemore to encourage them to choose a career in the Garda. He was taken from his wife, son and family at a very young age through illness. As I said, he is an enormous loss. I wish Sergeant Moloney well. We want strength in our numbers of community gardaí.

We also need a new Garda station in Clonmel. I believe the Minister is coming to Clonmel amárach. She is coming to Tipperary anyway. Several Ministers and taoisigh have seen that Clonmel Garda station is Dickensian. It is in a desperate condition. The matter has been raised for nigh on 50 years, if not more. It was raised as an issue long before I ever thought about politics. The Minister will see for herself if she visits it that the Garda station is not suitable as a functioning Garda station. The building is owned by the county council but it is leased and it is not practical. We have been packaged and bundled with different towns around the country. Some of them have fallen out of the package but we are still in a bundle of three. Now, for some strange, bizarre and unknown reason, we have been linked in with a court building project. I do not have much experience of it but I know that the people who build Garda stations under the contracts involved have a specific skill set. Court buildings are different and putting two or three Garda stations into a bundle with courts buildings is nonsense. It is a delaying tactic or a stalking horse, as far as I am concerned. Those buildings have wholly different functionality. Their ambience and appearance are different. Everything is different. I would love to see the three Garda stations being allowed to progress. We have the site, which we did not have for years. We have planning permission. The site is that of the old Army barracks. We need the go-ahead. We cannot be tying it up any more with delays.

Gardaí get injured in the line of duty. They face all kinds of situations. When they get a 999 call or any kind of distress call, they do not know what they are going to find when they arrive on the scene. We need numbers. We need them in Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir. There were never fewer numbers in the Cahir district. We need gardaí.

We are also in danger because of the new plan to appoint fewer superintendents and one chief for two counties. We have an excellent chief superintendent in Derek Smart in Cashel. He is doing a great job. The next chief will probably have to cover Clare and Thiobraid Árann. One would have to go through Limerick to get to Clare. It is bizarre. It could take you two hours to travel from one part of the region to the other. That is not tenable. I ask the Minister to review that situation because it is penny-pinching that does not serve the people. The Garda is there to serve the people and gardaí do serve the people. They want to serve the people but they must be supported to do so. Ní neart go cur le chéile is what I say. No police force can perform its duties without the support of the public. Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí. Mol na daoine and tiocfaidh siad freisin.

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