Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

One of the biggest changes in the new divisional model that is being rolled out is for teams of community gardaí in every small area across the country. That is only being rolled out. It is not yet in place in every county. We need more gardaí to populate the areas. We must ensure that for every small community there will be a community garda. Everybody will know who that person is and what their phone number is. If somebody has a problem, they will be able to ring them. These gardaí play a very special role within communities. They also then free up other core members, as well as those who are working in specialist teams, such as financial fraud, domestic abuse or crime. It is really important that we continue to increase the numbers of gardaí so we can populate these community teams. Part of that is through supporting the way in which they work, as well as providing the supports that they need. That is why we have an unprecedented budget this year. That is why we are not only investing in-----

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