Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

The Minister has not given this proposal the consideration we hoped he would. Communities throughout the country want this. People in the area I represented for many years would love to see gardaí live in the area and to see young recruits allocated local housing. This would be of tremendous benefit to communities. I support my colleague in urging the Minister and his colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to consider this, even on a pilot basis. The idea should not be discarded totally because it could work. I ask the Minister to reconsider. Perhaps he could come back to us on Report Stage after discussing it with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The idea is worthy of consideration because it could solve many of the problems on housing estates throughout the country.