Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I appreciate everything done by An Garda Síochána. I see how dangerous the job is, in that 4,000 members of An Garda Síochána were assaulted in the past five years and some 243 members were injured after having been assaulted.

For us in Limerick to have a good Garda service but we need a headquarters. I informed the Minister last week that Newcastle West is without its headquarters. We were given a promise when the old station closed down in Newcastle West, with a population of 8,000 people in that area alone, but we have no headquarters now. These are now in two houses in Askeaton, where a Garda station has been operated from there. They do fantastic work there and, yes, the members are upskilling through the Internet and so forth, but they need a headquarters. We need a place where our gardaí can have a proper headquarters in order that the appropriate infrastructure is put in place.

I do not have a problem with what the gardaí are doing but have a problem with the infrastructure that is there to support An Garda Síochána. I would greatly appreciate anything that the Minister can do to help us get our Garda station back in Newcastle West.

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