Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In 2011, 13 years ago, the number of gardaí policing Limerick was 637. It shrank to 612 in 2020. It has now shrunk again to 585. That is against a background of a substantially and rapidly increased population and a tidal wave of antisocial behaviour, which is making miserable the lives of many people in my constituency. I deal with cases of people who are literally under a curfew in their homes, people who are not even safe in their own homes and people whose kids cannot access local playgrounds put there at the expense of the State because of intimidation. My simple question to the Taoiseach is when will the Government provide the third city in this Republic with sufficient Garda resources to deal with this problem, which is having such a severe impact on the lives of people there?

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