Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South-Central, Sinn Fein)

The Minister will be aware that in April there was a lot of concern in the Cork city area about the amalgamation of units across four Garda stations into two units, in Carrigaline and Douglas, and Bishopstown and Ballincollig. Subsequently, and after many years of campaigning on behalf of the people of Cork, with public representatives and Cork Chamber of Commerce and so on, I am glad to see for the first time in a long time a decent allocation of gardaí in Cork. I know the Minister is going to tell me it is the Garda Commissioner who decides where Garda resources go, but I know he was briefed on this when he visited Cork in April.

Does he at least agree that it is not an ideal situation to see two different Garda stations being served by the same unit, and that it would be a good use of additional resources to ensure every station, including those in Carrigaline, Ballincollig, Bishopstown and Douglas, have a unit of their own, ensuring those big areas of population - busy areas with young populations - have a full-time unit monitoring crime in the area?

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