Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The move regarding the LCSPs is positive. I welcome it. When the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, came before the justice committee last year, he pointed out that rural policing is done with the active support of local communities. We can only have the active support of those communities if we have gardaí engaging with them. The difficulty is that if people in rural areas throughout the country are asked who their local garda is or who would they contact in the local Garda station, which may be located may be 20 or 30 miles away, no name will come to mind for many of them. I have raised this issue with the Minister of State previously. In 2019, the Joint Committee on Justice examined the issue of rural policing and made a recommendation that there should be a designated officer assigned as the initial point of contact in each rural community. Has any progress been made in this regard?

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