Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister's answer but we need those gardaí now. I met the superintendent recently and we had good discussions. I am hopeful that in the future there will be a refocus on community gardaí and getting gardaí back on the ground talking to young people, engaging with communities and residents' associations, which we have not had for a good number of years. We had a brilliant community policing section that was decimated during the austerity years. We have some fantastic gardaí. I will mention one garda, Rory Carey, who is a fantastic community garda sergeant doing his absolute best but they are under serious pressure. They do not have the resources to do what they want. I am hopeful for the new influx from Templemore but, unfortunately, as a community in Dublin 15 now, we are under serious pressure from these people. First, we need that influx of gardaí now to deal with what is happening on the ground. We need early intervention and all of those resources to deal with the future. A two-pronged approach is needed - community safety as we speak, and dealing with it into the future so that we do not have to deal with this constantly.

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