Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Today, I want to speak to the Tánaiste about the escalating crisis in policing across south Tipperary, a crisis made worse by the deplorable policy of neglect, under-resourcing and mismanagement by this Government and the previous Government. In communities across south Tipperary, from Carrick-on-Suir to Clonmel, Ardfinnan, Cahir, Cashel, Ballyporeen and Tipperary town, people are telling me they do not feel safe any more. They do not feel protected. We now have a situation where a single garda can be covering multiple towns and parishes, particularly at night. There is no back-up. There is no visibility and there are no patrols. The doors of our smaller, rural stations are rarely, if ever, open.

Meanwhile, drug activity is creeping further into rural communities and towns and criminals are getting even bolder because they know the situation. They know the numbers of gardaí are not there. However, what really beggars belief is the Government's decision to push ahead with the disastrous new Garda divisional model, which has resulted in Tipperary Garda headquarters being moved to Ennis, County Clare. That is a mad decision. This is centralisation gone daft and the consequences of the plan are plain to see - confusion, lack of local knowledge, demoralised front-line members and communities who feel abandoned.

We have now learned that of the 120 gardaí who graduated last week, one came to south Tipperary and one left the same day, Garda Michael Cussen. He was a wonderful officer who returned to his native Cork and I thank him for his dedicated service for the previous ten years to the people of Cahir and Cashel. One came and we lost one, so we are standing still. All of this is happening while gardaí are being trained in their hundreds in Templemore and going to the east coast or to Dublin. They need gardaí too but we cannot have them in Dublin at the expense of the rural areas.

Does the Tánaiste accept that south Tipperary is in the grip of a garda manpower crisis, not just a staffing issue but a public safety emergency? How does he justify the decision to shift the Garda headquarters from Thurles to Ennis? Will it be returned or will the decision reviewed? Can the Tánaiste tell the House exactly how many extra gardaí came, although I just told him? Only one extra garda came. Those are the facts of it. More urgently, will he commit to an adequate increase in gardaí numbers for south Tipperary so that rural people can feel safe in their homes?

This is not just about statistics. It is about real people - farmers, shopkeepers and families young and old who no longer feel protected in their own homes. It is also about front-line gardaí who are doing an excellent job, to be fair to them, with no back up. They have no resources.

Indeed, we saw two gardaí quite seriously injured - Garda John Walsh, an excellent garda in my area, who was savagely assaulted - and I wish him well - and Garda Philip Ryan. There are 12 gardaí in the Cahir-Clonmel district out sick. That happens and it is unfortunate, especially if they are injured on duty. A lady garda was injured recently. She was violently assaulted and it is not good enough. They need to have numbers.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McGrath for raising this issue. I join with him in sending best wishes to the local gardaí he referenced who experienced assault. An attack on a member of An Garda Síochána is an attack on our democracy and should rightly be condemned. Indeed, in this House in recent years and under the leadership of the then Minister, Deputy McEntee, we significantly increased the maximum penalties for those who assault a member of An Garda Síochána, or indeed our emergency services more generally. I thank the Deputy for highlighting that and join with him in the condemnation of that.

As he knows - and he knows I will say this but I have to say it - the Garda Commissioner is operationally responsible for the allocation of Garda resources. Of course, the Minister for justice and the Government are responsible for making sure the gardaí have the resources, budget and policy they need to do their job effectively.

I am informed that when allocating and transferring garda members to and from any division, consideration is given to commitments and undertakings outlined in the annual policing plan. It looks at local crime trends, workloads, policing arrangements, local population, geographical area, size and transfer applications that can arise regarding welfare, personnel issues and concerns.

I am told that, as of April of this year, there have been 658 gardaí assigned to the Clare–Tipperary division and that 371 of these have been assigned to stations in Tipperary. These gardaí are supported in Tipperary by 62 Garda staff. I am also informed that, as of the end of May, 79 Garda vehicles have been assigned to Tipperary.

However, the Deputy is right that we need to increase our Garda numbers significantly. He is also right that there is a direct correlation between people's sense of safety and Garda presence and visibility in a community. That is absolutely true. The Deputy will know what I am going to say about this. I am saying it only because I believe it is true. Templemore was closed twice or three times. It was first closed during the economic crash and the Fine Gael–Labour Government reopened it subsequently. It was also closed during the Covid pandemic. The closures obviously had a significant impact on the pipeline of new gardaí, but we now have 14,223 Garda members. The number of Garda staff has continued to increase steadily over recent years, having reached a record high of 3,501 at the end of 2024. This dipped ever so slightly, to 3,493, in April this year.

On the issue of the transfer from Thurles to Ennis, I will pass the Deputy’s concerns on to the Minister for justice and ask that he pass them on to and engage with the Garda Commissioner on them. We want to see a very significant increase in the number of gardaí over the coming years. We have the budget, Templemore up and running and specific commitments in the programme for Government on considering a second college and the options it might bring. Of course, the latter would see more gardaí across the country, including County Tipperary.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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I thank the Tánaiste for his reply but it is simply not acceptable that we are standing still. As I have put to the Commissioner before, officers, be they male or female, are put in danger if they are sent out on their own in a patrol car to all kinds of incidents. We saw what happened to Garda John Walsh after he had to go out on his own. Please God, he will recover. It is terrible that gardaí must go up and down boreens in the middle of the night on their own. Some days, there are no gardaí available in Cahir or Cashel stations. These are tourist towns, never mind all the villages in the hinterland. It is just not acceptable and not fair to the Garda members who are in the region doing their best.

The lack of cover in Carrick-on-Suir would be laughable if it were not so serious. There are three gardaí in a town that used to have 18. There were four sergeants but I think there is one now. Clonmel station is trying to cover this.

We see what happens at peaceful protests, such as the one in Dundrum when the IPAS residents were being moved in. I was there myself and we saw what happened. We had the siege of Dundrum. Two hundred gardaí, from the riot squad and dog squad to the equine unit and God knows what, arrived. Consider the cost of this. At the same time, a house was burgled in Cullen, about 15 miles away, and no garda could be got. That is the norm. Therefore, there is overkill when it suits the Government. What is happening is not acceptable. It is not safe to have gardaí on their own covering the kind of area in question.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am definitely not directing my remarks at the people of Dundrum – far from it. I met some of them when in Clonmel, but we have seen that huge pressure and challenges have been imposed on the gardaí in dealing with extremist elements in certain places. They visit my constituency as well. I thank the gardaí, who often must operate in the face of considerable abuse, which includes people sticking phones in their faces. They have to show considerable strength to try to keep the peace, so I thank An Garda Síochána for the work it does.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Not in Tipperary.

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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However, I am taking the Deputy’s broader point and on this occasion I am agreeing with him in that we obviously need to do more to increase the Garda presence. I assure him that the programme for Government, and also the pipeline we are now seeing from Templemore, will see us on a more positive trajectory as a result of the foundations we have put in place over the past several years.

I also assure the Deputy that the safety of our members when out and about patrolling is of paramount importance to the Government and Commissioner.