Tom Morrissey (Progressive Democrats)

The Minister has put to bed the lies of the Opposition for the past two years. He set the record straight on the Government programme. I agree with Senator Cummins that the Minister has engaged in some creative thinking. The Opposition spokesperson in the other House did not do so. The Minister's creative thinking includes changing the location of in-service training, building a new block, doing away with the Irish language requirement and increasing the recruitment age. The Minister has engaged in creative thinking by introducing some reforms. If we listened to the comments of Opposition spokespersons, this could not be done.

I welcome the fact that the Minister sought and received an assurance from the Garda Commissioner that, when qualified, the new entrants will be part of a high visibility presence in the community. They will be diverted into the drugs unit and a road traffic corps. I would also like to see them diverted into growing new communities throughout Dublin and other cities. In my area, Clonee has grown into a huge new town. Times have moved on and perhaps we should examine boundaries for policing purposes so that they can more accurately reflect the way areas have developed from small rural villages into large towns. This might happen in the future.

I would like to put on record my thanks to the gardaí in my constituency who were not afraid to go into Dunsink. It required a large number of gardaí to root out the lawless elements in the area. They did so under the glare of the national media and acquitted themselves very well. I thank them for doing so.