Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am raising an issue reported in the Irish Examineron Saturday, 17 June, by Sean O'Riordan, an eminent journalist. The article states:

More than 80 garda detectives are to stop providing armed cover on a 24/7 basis in the Cork region amid claims they have been left vulnerable by garda management's refusal to give them proper training and equipment to tackle gangland crime or terrorist attacks.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) has told garda management, that, from July 1, detectives will no longer provide armed cover around-the-clock, which is likely to lead to gaps in service provision at certain times of the night.

Since 2011 the GRA has been seeking the same training and equipment for Cork-based garda detectives as has been given to the Special Detective Unit in Dublin, whose members are equipped with bullet-proof shields [and firearms training]. That unit was issued with the shields so they could provide armed cover when the Emergency Response Unit (ERU) was not working in the Dublin area.

The GRA call for the same shields to be issued in Cork was sparked a few years ago by an incident in the Minane Bridge area, 25 km south of Cork City, when a uniformed garda risked his life to save three children by taking off his bullet-proof jacket and using it to shield them from a man who was shooting at him and his colleagues.

There is a need to ensure that gardaí have proper bulletproof vests and training. There is now a situation whereby, potentially, there could be no armed cover in Cork city and county. The detectives not only provide armed cover in those areas but have also attended incidents in Kerry and south Tipperary. It is very serious if our detectives are not getting the same training and equipment as their colleagues in Dublin. We have a duty to ensure that An Garda Síochána is given the resources, capabilities and training to deal with any events officers might confront, particularly where firearms are involved and where there is a threat to both gardaí and broader society. Gardaí are fighting criminal gangs and others with poor equipment and a lack of training.

The more than 80 detectives in the Cork city division have informed the management that from 1 July they will not provide 24-7 armed cover because, in their view, continuing to do so would breach the working time directive and health and safety legislation. I urge the Minister to intervene to ensure this training, proper firearms and bulletproof shields are provided. The chair and vice-chair of the joint policing committee in Cork county have also raised this. It must be addressed. I would appreciate if the Minister could give a detailed response on what he intends to do and, more importantly, what Garda management intends to do to ensure members of the force have all the resources required to protect the public.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, who regrets that he cannot attend this evening, I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter.

The Government is determined that the Garda will have the resources it needs to tackle to tackle all forms of criminality in our communities. The Deputy will appreciate that it is the Garda Commissioner and her management team who are responsible for the distribution of Garda resources, including personnel, among the various Garda divisions and the Minister has no direct role in the matter. However, the Minister is informed by the Garda Commissioner that arrangements are currently in place with detective personnel to ensure the capacity and capability of An Garda Síochána to respond to an armed or critical incident in Cork city and its environs on a 24-7 basis.

Armed response units were established on a regional basis to provide an armed response capacity and capability on a regional basis and in support of and to supplement the national emergency response unit.

Members of the armed response units are highly trained and equipped with a variety of non-lethal and lethal weapons and perform high-visibility armed checkpoints and patrols throughout their respective regions. In the event of an armed incident or similar outrage, armed detective members from local district and divisional units will respond, as will the armed response units, which are based in each Garda region. Should the incident be escalated and further armed support be required, the Garda emergency response unit is also available and its members are also highly trained and specially equipped to respond to the most serious incident or terrorist threat.

In order to ensure and maintain the capability and capacity of armed support units, a competition to select, train and allocate additional personnel for the regional armed response units outside the Dublin metropolitan region has recently been commenced. In the interim, the Minister has been advised that tactical awareness training, including the provision of equipment, is ongoing in the southern region for detective Garda personnel. The Minister has been advised that discussions are ongoing with the relevant authorities for the training of the next tranche of identified personnel, which is expected to commence shortly.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I seek assurances not only for myself but also, more importantly, for members of An Garda Síochána. If these reports are accurate and verified, we will have circumstances in which detectives will not, as stated in the newspaper report from which I quoted, be providing 24-7 armed cover in the southern division. That would be a considerable concern, primarily because it would jeopardise the safety of members of An Garda and potentially give signals to criminal elements that the force is effectively trying to fight crime with one arm tied behind its back. We simply cannot have that in any part of the country but, in the context of the southern division and the Cork city Garda division, these are issues of major concern.

In the Cork area, there will be large gatherings of people. There are armed gardaí at GAA matches now, for example. They were very evident in Thurles last week. Páirc Uí Chaoimh will be re-opening soon. Additional resources will be required to ensure there is armed cover at events there.

These issues are of concern. While I accept that the Minister of State does not have a hands-on role every day in Garda management, it is important that he relay the concerns I am raising to the Garda Commissioner and insist that members of the force outside Dublin have the same training and access to equipment, including safety vests, bulletproof vests and the proper arms, as their Dublin counterparts in order to ensure they are not vulnerable when carrying out their duties on behalf of the Irish people and the State.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. As I said, the Government is fully committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the necessary resources and training to tackle all forms of criminality in our communities. I assure Deputies that, as confirmed by the Garda Commissioner, arrangements are currently in place with detective personnel to ensure the capacity and capability of An Garda Síochána to respond to an armed or critical incident in Cork city and its environs on a 24-7 basis. Training, equipment and personnel capacity of the regional armed response units and the emergency response unit are kept under constant review with a view to ensuring their functional capacity is kept at the optimal level. On foot of that continual review, a competition to select, train and allocate additional personnel for the regional armed response unit outside the Dublin metropolitan region has recently been commenced by Garda management. In the interim, the Commissioner has advised the Minister that tactical-awareness training, including the provision of equipment, is ongoing for the southern region for detective garda personnel. Furthermore, discussions are in train with the relevant authorities for the training of the next tranche of identified personnel. It is expected that this training will commence shortly. The Deputy is quite correct that these are serious matters. I thank him for raising this issue. It is important that the arrangements be kept under constant review. The Minister is anxious to do this with the Garda Commissioner to ensure we have the required capability and capacity.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I beg the indulgence of the House. It was remiss of me not to congratulate the Minister of State on his reappointment. In this particular case, it was certainly on merit.