Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, is taking the Topical Issue matter on a Garda headquarters for County Meath; he is from County Cork but he will manage that.

Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I have raised the issue of Garda resources in Meath on several occasions with the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, in this Chamber but that was specifically to do with the personnel requirements for our county which still rank as the lowest in the county, a fact confirmed on Monday of this week when the chief superintendent confirmed that resources allocated to Kildare have relegated us to bottom position when it comes to the number of the gardaí per capitain the division.

The issue I specifically want to raise is the physical resources and the fact that there is no Garda divisional headquarters building for the force in County Meath. I believe County Meath is the only county in the country where there is no divisional headquarters. The net result of having no divisional headquarters building was laid out fairly firmly by our chief superintendent, Fergus Healy, and superintendent Mick Devine at a joint policing committee meeting with our members on Monday of this week.

I want to stress the following point, and it is a little like my exchanges with the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, in respect of personnel.

I make the call for divisional headquarters in Meath on behalf of our chief superintendent, the head of our force in County Meath. He asks for these resources so that he can do his job, and he has stated this openly at a recent meeting that this needs to happen.

The net result of not having a divisional headquarters has real impacts for him and his force because they are not able to conduct policing in Meath in a cohesive and strategic way, and I shall explain why. There are more than 100 members of the force crammed into an outdated district station in Navan. Key services are spread out all over the county away from the county town. The drugs unit is based in Slane. The scene of crime unit is located in a civilian building in Athlumney. The traffic corps is based in Dunshaughlin in the south of the county while the inspector in charge of it is based in Navan. The victims' office and the child protection office are in Athlumney. The key superintendent is based in a Garda station in Navan while the chief superintendent and other members are away in other civilian offices. There is no cohesiveness to the force whatsoever and this has a very real impact in the way policing is carried out in County Meath.

I have argued on several occasions in the Chamber over the last year for more gardaí for the county but if more are allocated there is nowhere in the main station in Navan to put them. In fact, there is nowhere to put the criminals because the building has only four cells. On a Saturday night the four cells are full before midnight and it is like a taxi service bringing the lads around the county to find a room for the criminals. There is only one interview room in Navan station and as a result there is a queue outside to bring them in. Our plain-clothes detectives are located in prefabs to the rear of the station.

I appeal to the Minister to look at the situation and to engage positively with the force so that they can do the job that the Minister, the Department and I are so proud of. We expect gardaí to do a job and they should be properly resourced to do it. Currently they are not. I am here today to speak on their behalf.

I am aware of the role the Office of Public Works, OPW, plays in this process. During a Topical Issue debate on the matter on 17 October 2017, I asked the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, about this divisional headquarters. The Minister told me that he would approach the Minister of State with responsibility for the OPW, Deputy Boxer Moran, about the site and that he would come back to me. That has not happened. I too have mentioned the site to the Minister of State and there has been no word back from either office since last October. This site has been earmarked by the chief superintendent. It could accommodate such a building.

The Minister, Deputy Flanagan, informed me last October that he expected my area to benefit from the capital plan and the envelope of funding that had been put aside. Will the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, indicate by how much Meath will benefit and will we get the divisional headquarters that County Meath requires? Meath is the only county in the State without a divisional headquarters.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I speak on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, who cannot be here as he is on official business. He sends his apologies. He and I thank Deputy Cassells for raising this matter in the House.

The Deputy will be aware that the programme of replacement and refurbishment of Garda accommodation is progressed by the Garda authorities working in close co-operation with the Office of Public Works. The Minister for Justice and Equality has no direct role in these matters.

Significant efforts are being made by the Government to enhance the working environment generally for members of An Garda Síochána and major investment has been committed under the capital plan 2016-21 to upgrade Garda premises. The Garda station building and refurbishment programme 2016-21 is an ambitious five-year programme based on agreed Garda priorities that will benefit more than 30 locations around the State. It includes more than €60 million of Exchequer funding as part of Government’s capital plan 2016-21 as well as a major public private partnership project. The programme is providing new stations and modernising older stations at key locations around the State, ensuring safe, modern working environments for members and staff of An Garda Síochána as well as fit-for-purpose facilities for visitors, victims and suspects.

The Minister for Justice and Equality has been informed by the Garda authorities that the divisional headquarters for the Meath division is based in Navan. The programme 2016-21 does not include the development of a new divisional headquarters for County Meath. Provision is made, however, under the programme for significant works at the existing divisional headquarters involving the complete demolition of the existing cell block as well as the construction of a new cell block and overhead office accommodation at Navan Garda station. The Minister is further informed that An Garda Síochána is actively engaged with the OPW to progress these works.

The Minister confirms that the Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the State in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, to provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. To achieve this, the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021, comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Garda Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

The allocation and management of resources, including Garda personnel, is a matter for the Garda Commissioner. The Minister has been informed that the strength of the Meath division on 30 April 2018, the latest date for which information is readily available, was 312. He has been further informed that there are also 16 Garda Reserve members and 30 Garda civilian staff attached to the Meath division. When appropriate, the work of local gardaí is supported by a number of national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the armed support units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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In his reply the Minister of State has said, "The Minister for Justice and Equality has been informed by the Garda authorities that the divisional headquarters for the Meath division is based in Navan". There is no divisional headquarters in Navan. This is why I am here. The chief superintendent outlined this fact to the joint policing committee meeting on Monday. I am in the House constantly arguing on their behalf. It is really annoying that nobody in this building seems to listen to the force. It would be different if I was coming in here to attack the Ministers for a lack of resources by making political charges. This man has spoken publicly on Monday of this week that he cannot cohesively or effectively do the job he is expected to do with the current set up. I keep going back to this point.

The chief superintendent has called for more personnel and is now calling for a proper divisional headquarters. Meath is the only county in the State without a divisional headquarters. This is coming from the leader of a force that the Government is here to support. The chief superintendent feels so passionately about it that he is bringing all of the members of the joint policing committee, JPC, on a tour to Wexford to see what a proper divisional headquarters building looks like. He wants to clearly illustrate to the elected members, and to the civilian and community leaders on that JPC, how a force in another part of the State is well resourced to the tune of a €30 million building, and yet the Meath force is expected to work out of a multiple of prefabs dotted around the county.

In his reply this evening the Minister of State said that, "The Minister for Justice and Equality has been informed by the Garda authorities that the divisional headquarters for the Meath division is based in Navan". I have read to the House where all the different units are located: the traffic corps is in Dunshaughlin, the drugs unit is in Slane and different units are based elsewhere. They are all over the county. There is no divisional headquarters. The Topical Issue speaks to the fact that there is none and we require a building for the force to be able to do its job.

At Monday's JPC we discussed the Meath divisional plan. The document cannot, however, be implemented properly if the men and women of the force are not properly resourced. Will the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, ask the Minister to make sure the force in Meath is properly resourced so it can meet the challenges of the job it is expected to do. There is no point in Garda authorities spinning a line to the Minister for Justice and Equality saying there is a divisional headquarters in Navan, when quite clearly there is not. If the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and the Minister of State would like to come to Navan we can show them that no such building exists. This is why I am here tonight arguing the case.

Last October I was given a promise that the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Boxer Moran, would revert to me on the examination of the site. It is not acceptable that not even a courtesy has been shown to come back to me since then with regard to the examination of the site as an option for building a divisional headquarters for County Meath.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, I thank Deputy Cassells for rasing the matter. I can sense his passion for how strongly he feels on the issue.

I assure the Deputy that significant efforts are being made to enhance the working environment generally for members of An Garda Síochána and unprecedented investment has been committed under the capital plan 2016-21 to upgrade Garda premises. The Garda station building and refurbishment programme is an ambitious five-year programme based on agreed Garda priorities that will benefit more than 30 locations around the State. It includes more than €60 million of Exchequer funding as part of Government’s capital plan 2016-21 as well as a major public private partnership project. The programme is providing new stations and modernising older stations at key locations around the State, ensuring safe, modern working environments for members and staff of An Garda Síochána as well as fit-for-purpose facilities for visitors, victims and suspects. Although the programme does not include the development of a new divisional headquarters for County Meath provision is made under the programme for significant works at the existing divisional headquarters: the complete demolition of the existing cell block as well as the construction of a new cell block and overhead office accommodation at Navan Garda station. An Garda Síochána is actively engaged with the OPW to progress these works. When completed, these works will enhance the working conditions of all concerned. An Garda Síochána and the OPW are working closely together at the moment to bring this about.

Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister of State comment on the status of the site?

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy and the Minister of State. We shall move on.

Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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It is not good enough.