Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I dtosach báire, tréaslaím leis an Aire as a ról nua. Táim ag súil go mór le h-oibriú leis amach anseo. I congratulate the Minister on his role. I know Deputy Jim O'Callaghan will approach this with the energy with which he approached it as our party's spokesperson in the previous Dáil.

At the outset, I have had the privilege of working with some of the finest members of An Garda Síochána during my time as a county councillor and as chairperson of south Dublin county joint policing committee. They exemplify in many ways the values that are inherent and intrinsic to the objectives of that force in building a relationship with their community.

Obviously, we have pressures in my area of Dublin Mid-West that I wish to bring to the Minister's attention, such as the need for a 24-hour Garda station in Rathcoole, the need to unify all of Palmerstown under the one Garda district so that it is coincident with existing administrative boundaries, and the need to ensure appropriate staffing of both community Garda and specialist units in Lucan and Clondalkin Garda stations. I also want to talk in general about An Garda Síochána and, alluding to what Deputy Séamus McGrath said earlier, about the role of An Garda Síochána. How can we make it better and easier for people to join An Garda Síochána? I compliment the very successful recruitment campaign that has commenced and hope it yields the numbers we so desperately need in the force. I am also thinking in terms of the equipment that is made available to members of An Garda Síochána, ensuring the speedy and timely roll-out and use of bodycams by gardaí dealing with violent and threatening behaviour, looking at the adoption of facial-recognition technology, and ensuring An Garda Síochána is properly resourced to deal with the threats of cybersecurity that emanate not only from international bad actors but also from domestic gangs here at home.

A number of references have been made to the use of the legislation to deal with scramblers in our communities. Scramblers are a scourge in Dublin Mid-West. I encourage the Minister to look at innovative solutions such as drones or unmanned aerial vehicles to see the source of these scramblers and to make sure they are seized and taken away as threats to communities.

In terms of how gardaí do their work, we need to look at solutions such as custody suites, where detained prisoners are kept in a central location, to enable even greater coverage of a geographic area. That will free up a custody sergeant rather than leaving them in one station. Looking at the evidential requirements that are on gardaí to present themselves to a court to hear evidence, that might also tie up the use of a Garda vehicle and that garda's partner in presenting that evidence. We should make sure procedures such as that are dealt with. We should look at all those members who are retiring from An Garda Síochána but still want to work. I am thinking of people who might retire from inspector grade who are sworn members and who know how dispatch works. Is there a role for them in staffing the Garda stations at night to make sure that all available sworn and active members are able to be out on the beat? We need to look at those roles.

We must look also at community safety, in an holistic and roundabout way. It must be done with local authorities in designing out aspects of the public realm, for example, that might promote antisocial behaviour.

These are the sort of things that I would encourage the Minister to take on board in his term ahead and I look forward to working with him.

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