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

I thank the Regional Group for tabling this very timely motion. This time last year, I tabled a parliamentary question relating to rosters to which the Minister replied. I am asking myself how are we still here. It has been 12 months since I got that reply and it was a bubbling issue at that stage. It is unthinkable that we are here 12 months later and this is at crisis point.

In her statement around the time of the motion of no confidence in the Garda Commissioner, the Minister said that she discussed the ballot and Garda rosters with him. I would like to know what discussions she had about the Garda rosters because it is a central issue in retaining gardaí and encouraging others to join the force. Nobody thinks that the current roster or the previous one is correct but we have to reach a solution. Why has it come to a point where people feel they are being put at risk and where the gardaí have to withdraw overtime to really bring it to this point?

There are 500,000 more people in this country than there were according to the previous census. I have been producing a report on the ratio of gardaí to the population for years and have given the Minister copies of it. Her own county is the worst while Kildare is the second worst. Both counties are fast-growing areas. The purpose of the census is to provide services in proportion to the population but there is no growth. We have fewer gardaí now than we had prior to the previous census even though there are 500,000 more people in the country.

It is very difficult to predict retirements. The Policing Authority talks about there being somewhere in the region of 2,000 retirements over the next ten years. There could be more than that. I do not see the workforce planning in this regard. I do not see the efforts to make it more attractive to join An Garda Síochána. Certainly the roster and the work-life balance are critical issues. This must be factored in.

The Minister's constituency is the worst in the country. Yesterday, which was the first day of this action, there was one car available in Blanchardstown in the Taoiseach's constituency. Blanchardstown has the same population as Limerick city. This is bonkers. It just shows the risk people see when they can see resources stretched to that extent. I routinely deal with my local gardaí and have nothing but positive things to say about that interaction but some of them are being put at risk because of how thin the resources are in responding to incidents. I have spoken previously of seeing gardaí responding on their own. It is not surprising that people are being head-hunted. They are well-trained and experienced and they are being head-hunted by industry to work for better pay in a less risky environment.

We have to hear about solutions to this dispute. It is very difficult to see how the solution will be reached if the vast majority of people who voted for this action and the largest body of gardaí are not at the table. The preconditions have been very unhelpful in that regard, particularly that the old roster should be restored by a certain date.

As the population grows, services must grow with it and they must grow in the places to which people are moving. This is not happening. It has not happened as long as I have been producing that report, which is seven or eight years. If people are going to feel safe, they require an immediate response to this dispute.

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