Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Most Garda divisions now have fewer front-line officers than this time last year. That is a shocking headline currently throughout the country. In the 560 Garda stations that exist, the number has fallen from 12,045 gardaí to 11,928 gardaí. In County Waterford, the number of gardaí has fallen by 24. In counties Louth, Cavan and Monaghan, the number of gardaí has fallen by 48. In counties Roscommon and Longford, the number of gardaí has fallen by 22. In Meath, my own county and the county with the lowest number of gardaí per capita in the State, the number of gardaí in our division has fallen again. In actual, real terms, the Garda numbers have fallen below 2020 figures. They have actually fallen in real terms below 2009 figures. Believe it or not, per capita, we have a lower number of gardaí now than we had 20 years ago in 2005, which is an incredible situation. Under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, Ireland now has its lowest number of gardaí in 20 years per capita. That is on the basis that Ireland also has the lowest number of gardaí per capita in the whole of the European Union. It is an incredible situation where police forces across Europe have far more police per capita than Ireland.

Rural Garda stations have been closed and that has done an enormous level of damage across the country. The refusal by the Government to staff those Garda stations is actually leaving those communities exposed to crime. It is a competitive advantage to criminals that the Taoiseach's party and Fine Gael have closed Garda stations around the country. In my own county, Ballivor, Longwood, Summerhill, Athboy and Oldcastle all have Garda stations that are hardly open at the moment. These are typical of many other towns throughout the country that have been abandoned by the Government to crime. These towns had functional Garda stations 100 years ago, when this State did not have a shilling to rub together and when crime was about a quarter of what it is now. Now, more gardaí are resigning, retiring and being attacked on a daily basis than ever before.

Drew Harris has lost the dressing room. There is a universal lack of confidence in Drew Harris among gardaí, and this is leading to a substantial increase in crime. Burglaries are increasing at a serious rate. Violent burglaries are increasing. A person's property is being broken into every 50 minutes in this country. Theft offences, kidnappings, firearms, explosives offences, public order offences, violent crime, attempted murders, assaults, shootings, drug importations and arson attacks are all increasing at the moment. This is the Taoiseach's Ireland at the moment.

Will the Government invest in real terms in Garda pay and conditions? Will it reopen the many Garda stations that have been closed? A total of 56 Garda stations do not even have an assigned garda. One would think that having a garda would be a key component to a Garda station, yet we do not have this. Will the Taoiseach reopen those Garda stations and make sure that they are properly staffed?

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