Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Kerrane for raising this very important matter. I also convey the apologies of the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee.

As the Deputy will be aware, by law, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of Garda members and resources between the divisions and stations. The Commissioner is also responsible for operational policing, including policing plans. The Minister has no role and she cannot direct the Commissioner.

I assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities and strengthening An Garda Síochána is at the core of that. Budget 2025 provided the highest ever allocation to An Garda Síochána. The funding allows for the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff and that should allow the Garda Commissioner to ensure that an effective policing service can be delivered in our towns and villages. The Department of Justice takes the safety of people living and working in rural Ireland very seriously and recognises that preventing crime does not just mean putting gardaí on the beat.

Supporting the work of the national rural safety forum, the Department published the rural safety plan. A lot has been achieved in the life of the plan which recognises that rural safety and community safety is not a job for An Garda Síochána alone. It requires a multi-agency, multi-sectoral and whole-of-Government response. The plan’s vision is to ensure people and communities in rural Ireland feel safe and are safe in their homes, places of work and local environments. The national rural safety forum is working to publish the second rural safety plan next year.

Deputy Kerrane will also be interested to note that local community safety partnerships are beginning to come on stream this year after very successful pilot partnerships in Longford, Waterford city and county and Dublin’s north-inner city. Chairpersons were appointed to eight LCSPs. The partnerships will replace and expand upon the remit of joint policing committees by providing a forum for residents and community representatives, with the relevant State agencies. Each partnership will be required to develop and publish a local community safety plan to reflect and respond to the needs of that community.

Nobody knows what their community needs better than the people who live and work there.

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