Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am reassured by the response from the Minister. I do sometimes get a little disappointed with the political reaction as if there is no influence that the Minister can have in this regard. We know that the soft power of a Minister can be quite strong. The Minister needs to be an advocate and a persuader for this. Her office and her Department needs to be fully engaged on the progress of this. While the Garda Commissioner has described it as exciting, the site has been identified and talks are ongoing between Dublin City Council and the OPW, the community is still waiting. There have been justifiable delays.

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Covid was obviously one reason for that. Yet, we are still seeing a lot of construction around that area. As a public representative, with other public representatives, I want to be able to stand over our period of influence in that area in 50 years' time and say that we put everything in place to ensure that the area was a thriving community, a place to be proud of, a place to bring up children and a place for families to feel safe and secure.

I do not like the arm's-length response that we often get from Departments, as if there is no influence that can be brought to bear. Having said that, the message that I want to see passed on to the Minister is that we would like her to be a persuader for this project and to actively engage on the issue. I ask that the Department do anything it can to make the process easier. I ask that the Minister is willing, able and at hand to be a facilitator in the process. I will continue to raise the issue. I am not going to let it go. I feel that we have to move to a position where a Garda station is constructed so that communities can feel that the community infrastructure is going in and that they live in a proper community with all the services and resources a Garda station will provide for them and the wider area.

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