Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, and thank him for taking this very important issue. I remind the House that making Sligo Garda station a divisional headquarters was an issue before I became a Deputy for Sligo-Leitrim in February 2020. My predecessor, Tony McLoughlin, pressed this issue very hard during his time in the House. In fact, the Office for Public Works, OPW, purchased a site for a new divisional headquarters in Caltragh in Sligo. In recent years, some major refurbishments and renovations have taken place at the current station on the Pearse Road in Sligo. This follows major protests from serving gardaí, resulting at one stage in a walkout. I thank the Minister and the OPW for the allocation of funding to date, but as the saying goes, there is "a lot done, more to do" in regard to Sligo Garda station.

I raised this matter in July 2020 with the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee. At the time, matters were outlined to me as follows. I was told that it was important to be clear that the Garda Commissioner was by law responsible for the management and control of An Garda Síochána and the effective and efficient use of Garda resources, and that the OPW had responsibility for the provision and maintenance of Garda accommodation.

The decision not to proceed with a new Garda station in Sligo as part of the Garda PPP programme was made by the Garda Commissioner in his capacity as Accounting Officer and as the person responsible, by law, for the allocation of Garda resources. The decision was taken in the context of significant reorganisation of Garda resources, which underpins the new Garda operating model announced by the Garda Commissioner last year.

As part of the reduction of bureaucracy and the streamlining of administrative processes under the new operating model, the number of Garda regions and divisions is being reduced, and Sligo Garda station will be neither a regional headquarters nor a divisional headquarters. Consequently, Garda management has decided a building of the scale envisaged under the original PPP programme is no longer operationally required in Sligo and that the allocation of public funding for such a project can no longer be justified. This decision was communicated to the Department by letter on 2 January 2020. I am informed that, in order to ensure adequate accommodation to provide an effective policing service in Sligo, the existing Garda station is undergoing a very extensive refit, overseen by the OPW.

Since 2017, well over €1 million has been spent on the current Garda headquarters. I ask the Minister to examine, in conjunction with the OPW, more options to expand the current facilities at Sligo Garda station although a site is presumably still owned by the OPW at Caltragh. I am still concerned that the facilities at Sligo Garda station need further expansion. The possibility of acquiring more space to the rear to expand the facility should be considered. If possible, the campus should be returned as divisional headquarters.

Furthermore, I am concerned that the armed response unit is not based in the county. There is an opportunity to locate it in either Ballymote or Tubbercurry, which have space and are not too far from the Sligo Garda station. There is deep disappointment over what many feel is the downgrading of Sligo's status as a regional city and the capital of the north-west region because of the decision by the Commissioner in 2020. We are all aware of the crime statistics for the region. I hope this matter will be addressed. A review of the 2020 decision is now required.

See this speech in context