Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

It is important that we increase the strength of the force but deployment once that happens is another matter. We are always told that is exclusively the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner. Fairness is required in that regard. Population is not the only metric that should be used but the Minister's constituency and my constituency, for example, are counties. Meath and Kildare are complete outliers. The more the population grows, the more services are stretched. A far from fair allocation is provided. That has been confirmed by previous Garda Commissioners who told me there was an understanding that this was the case. The only thing that will remedy that unfairness is disproportionately deploying new members of the Garda to understrength areas. What engagement does the Minister have with the Garda Commissioner to ensure fair deployment? I understand that the Commissioner has to run the operational side. However, there must be some degree of fairness. There is no evidence that the population shifts reflected in the two most recent censuses have been considered. Does the Minister engage with the Commissioner on that issue?

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