Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Generally speaking, when talking to people we find they do not feel as safe in urban environments, particularly at night, as they once would have. Many factors are responsible for that in cities and in towns across the country. Obviously, Covid interrupted training in Templemore and recruitment of gardaí and we would have loved to have recruited more gardaí. There are also other factors in terms of how cities will develop into the future. We need a much stronger residential footprint in cities now than was the case historically. Cities are changing in terms of the old anchor model with big department stores and so on. There is a lot of change going on. We need to invest in the public realm as we have. I just mentioned €170 million for the North Quays in Waterford. All of that will help in terms of a better public realm and better safety.

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