Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Regional Group for bringing forward this really important motion, and the Minister for coming in and listening to the debate.

This Government claims it is committed to stronger and safer communities and that it is committed to a strengthened and well-resourced Garda force. Yet, after decades of Fine Gael at the helm of the Department of Justice I see little or no evidence to back up that claim.

In my constituency of Dublin Bay South, we have lost more than 100 gardaí in the past four years. That is a huge blow to inner city security. The loss of so many gardaí in the city centre is having a crippling effect on the policing of the city centre. Over the years I have watched the hard work of community gardaí in Pearse Street, Kevin Street and Ringsend. I have watched the strong relationship that community gardaí have fostered with communities and the positive impact it has had. Community gardaí are an immensely valuable resource in the inner city. Since 2020 Pearse Street Garda station has gone from having 28 community gardaí to just 20, but now because of the new roster Pearse Street is set to lose another one third of the community gardaí. This is going to be a devastating blow to community policing in the inner city. The superintendent in Pearse Street is very good. He is really engaged with the local community and he is very professional, as are all the gardaí that I meet, day in and day out, but he does not have the resources available to him that he requires. The Garda do not have the resources they need. It must be demoralising for gardaí, yet they go above and beyond for the local community day in and day out. We cannot tolerate the abandonment of local communities due to Fine Gael's neglect of An Garda Síochána for more than a decade.

Last night I got calls and images of violence and fires being lit just off Pearse Street. Communities are being terrorised by these gangs. The Garda does not have the resources it needs and the streets are not safe. They do not feel safe for people living in the south inner city. Increasingly, we hear accounts of people avoiding the city centre. It is not just the people visiting the city, it is the inner city community itself.

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