Dáil debates
Thursday, 22 June 2023
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
An Garda Síochána
3:55 pm
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Mahon is a very proud, strong community. Incidentally, it is a community which has welcomed a number of people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine. I take this opportunity to extend my apologies to Mahon Community Centre, the Mahon Family Resource Centre and everyone involved in the Mahon Welcomes event happening today. I am here because I have a piece of legislation later on. It is a resilient community and has responded well to this crisis.
In 2009, there were 31 gardaí in Blackrock Garda Station. In 2017, there were 22 gardaí. On Monday, the website said there were 17 gardaí posted to the station. The complement was effectively reduced by 50% and then by 50% again, almost. Certainly, it has halved over that time. The station has gone from 31 gardaí to 22 to 17 in a little over 13 years. Surely the Minster of State can see that is not anywhere near good enough. As I have already said, Mahon is a proud, active community with a strong voluntary community. Like any community, it has challenges. There have been ongoing issues with criminal damage to the premises of some of the excellent sporting clubs there, like Ringmahon Rangers, Ballinure GAA and St. Michael's GAA. There have been other issues with antisocial behaviour. These are the kind of challenges any community would face, but that these are the Garda numbers allocated to the area is simply unacceptable. It is a serious diminution. The local gardaí, especially the community gardaí, are doing their absolute best, but they are stretched more and more. Garda members are being asked to do the same work, effectively, with much reduced numbers. If other stations are under pressure, Mahon's gardaí are potentially being called out to them. It is hard to know sometimes whether there is always a squad car available at night to respond to things. People have noticed reductions in response times, issues with phone calls to the station and other issues like that. That is not good enough. It is an area that deserves better support than that.
As I am speaking on policing and crime prevention, I take the opportunity to note the fact there have been a number of shocking attacks on taxi drivers over recent months. Taxi drivers do not deserve to be in fear of assault when they are just going about doing their jobs. There were a number of fairly serious assaults. Many drivers do not report them to the Garda because they fear nothing will happen. I encourage anyone, if they can, to report things to the Garda, but the fear drivers have is there will not be a follow-on from it. There have been too many attacks and a number of drivers were injured. Drivers are extremely worried, so I urge gardaí in Cork to engage with the drivers and the National Transport Authority to ensure they are protected in whatever way possible.
Returning to the issue at hand, the drop in numbers in Mahon is enormous. There are other crime prevention resources needed as well for youth diversion and other crime prevention measures. What people especially want to see is gardaí on the street. It is the best way of discouraging crime. I urge the Minister of State to take that back to the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner.
Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, I thank the Deputy for raising this matter in the House. As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible by law for the management and administration of Garda business, which includes the allocation of Garda resources. The Minister for Justice has no direct role in this operational, policing matter.
The Government is committed to creating stronger and safer rural and urban communities and a strengthened Garda Síochána is at the heart of that. The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs, with an unprecedented allocation provided in budget 2023 of more than €2 billion. In addition to new recruits, the ongoing roll-out of the new Garda operating model will support the redeployment of gardaí from non-core duties to front-line policing. The new model will see larger divisions with more resources, increased Garda visibility in communities, a wider range of locally delivered policing services and a strong focus on community policing.
Mahon is currently serviced by Blackrock Garda Station. I am advised by the Garda authorities that Blackrock, Anglesea Street and Bridewell Garda stations are now incorporated under one functional area as part of the new Garda operating model, namely, Cork city centre community engagement. I am informed by the Garda authorities that, as of 31 May 2023, the latest date for which figures are available, there is one sergeant and 16 gardaí assigned to Blackrock Garda Station, two of whom are community gardaí. Additionally, support is available and provided as required from uniformed or plainclothes resources, or both, from the other Cork city centre community engagement stations, and policing of the area is covered on a 24-7 basis by a mobile unit attached to Blackrock. As of 31 May 2023, there were 705 Garda members assigned to the Cork city division and 112 Garda staff, representing increases of 8% and 90%, respectively, since the end of December 2015. This significant increase in Garda staff numbers enables the redeployment of Garda members from administrative duties to operational policing duties where their training and policing expertise can be employed to best effect.
In 2015, An Garda Síochána launched the highly successful Operation Thor, a nationwide operation established to tackle burglary and prosecute offenders. Operation Thor actively targets organised crime gangs and repeat offenders through co-ordinated crime prevention and enforcement activity based on intelligence and the latest burglary trends. Since its inception in 2015, burglary has been trending downwards, with overall reported burglary in 2022 45% lower than pre-pandemic levels of 2019. I am assured neighbourhood watch is active in the area and local gardaí attend the local community forums, where any issues are discussed in a proactive manner. An Garda Síochána also has a free property recording app. Should any items be stolen, the app provides a way of reporting this to An Garda Síochána and facilitates public sharing of information with the Garda for this purpose. The Department of Justice also provides funding to Muintir na Tíre to cover the costs incurred by community groups in administering the text alert scheme. Text alert enables communities to set up a group to receive alerts advising them of suspicious or criminal activity in their area. As well as ensuring awareness among users of the service, it can also lead to them reporting suspicious activity to the Garda. Further information on the property marking app, text alert schemes and other crime prevention information can be found on the Garda website at www.garda.ie.
Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I appreciate a substantial element of this comes back to the Garda Commissioner, but there is a feeling in Cork that as new gardaí have come out of Templemore over the course of the past few years, Cork has not had a fair shake compared with the other significant urban areas. There are a number of stations - I am sure the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach can think of examples too - that are either at or below the numbers they were at seven or eight years ago, despite the fact Garda numbers have increased overall. It has to be asked how that is happening. There are challenges across the force with retention, but in most places across the country station numbers are up, even if they are marginal. In Mahon they are down very precipitously. The complement has gone from 31 down to 22 and then to 17. The area is down 14 gardaí since 2009. It is true the members are part of the same functional area, but to all intents and purposes they were effectively part of it anyway because they were part of the Anglesea Street subdistrict, so there is no real, substantial change in that. It is just that the model has slightly changed.
What has happened in the Garda district in Cork, much of which is welcome, is that there are new specialist units like the protective services unit and so on. However, the rank-and-file positions in the stations are not being backfilled as people are promoted to the new units. I am not arguing against those units, and the one I mentioned is especially valuable, but those ordinary Garda positions are not being backfilled and too many people are leaving the force. Those are the issues that combine a variety of ways here. I do not believe Cork is getting a fair shake and Mahon in particular is not. That is not fair on the community.
They feel neglected by services in lots of ways, despite the fact there is a very strong community and voluntary ethos there. There are lot of clubs, such as Ringmahon Rangers, Ballinure GAA, the family resource centre and St. Michael’s GAA, that are doing great work but they feel they are not being properly supported in terms of public services. Looking at those garda numbers reducing from 31 in 2009 to 22 in 2017 and 17 this month, it is hard to argue with that.
4:05 pm
Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy again for raising this matter. I want to underline again the Government's steadfast commitment to supporting An Garda Síochána in its critical work at community level via a multi-stranded approach encompassing record funding, targeted policy initiatives and robust legislation. The Department of Justice continues to prioritise the delivery of our new community safety policing via the ongoing progression of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023 through the Oireachtas. The establishment of the new local community safety partnerships in communities is the cornerstone of the new policy. This will embody the multisectoral approach to community safety recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland with enhanced responsibility for wider public services and communities. Three local community safety partnerships are being piloted in north inner city Dublin, Waterford and Longford. The aim of these partnerships is to ensure that local communities and service providers work together to identify the actions needed specific to their local community to ensure that it is a safe place to live, work in and visit through the development of a community safety plan. The intention is to roll out local community safety partnerships nationally following the enactment and commencement of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill. An Garda Síochána will play a vital role in delivering this enhanced approach in community safety in local areas. The Minister, Deputy McEntee has every confidence in the Garda Commissioner and his management team to continue to make operational decisions on the best use of the Garda resources available in the interests of all our communities nationwide.
In closing, I point to the Rural Safety Plan 2022-2024, published by the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne. It is the result of strong collaboration between all relevant stakeholder organisations. The rural safety plan brings together the excellent work already under way in respect of rural safety. The vision of the plan is for people and communities in rural Ireland to feel safe and be safe in their homes, their places of work or their local environments. The rural safety plan is a helpful resource for rural communities and supports broader crime prevention and awareness.