Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government sets out an ambitious target of 5,000 new gardaí, which is very welcome. As well as increasing the overall headcount of gardaí, we need to ensure there is a fair allocation across the country. Unfortunately, only a tiny fraction of previous classes that graduated from Templemore have gone to Cork city and county. This is simply not sustainable. Dublin, to be fair, has got the lion's share, and, having been in Dublin in recent weeks, one can see the increased visibility of gardaí on the ground. That is very welcome, but we need to replicate that across our country, particularly in our second largest city, Cork. The consequences of poor allocations to Cork city and county are now being shown in an operational matter locally in the Togher district, where there is a proposal to amalgamate the Garda unit serving large urban areas of Douglas, Carrigaline, Bishopstown and Ballincollig. This will remove the gardaí from serving in their local areas. They will now have to travel up to ten to 15 miles to respond to a call. That is simply not acceptable. I ask the Minister to engage with the Garda Commissioner to ensure that there is a fair allocation of gardaí across our country and that there is equality in terms of the numbers serving our population bases.

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