Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

It is important to know, as a matter of historical fact, that in the Dublin area, because of the existence of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, they were always called stations and were never colloquially known as barracks, which is the case outside Dublin. In the Dublin area, however, the location of the station has had a crucial influence on the formation of the districts and divisions. The districts and divisions do not correspond with the local authority boundaries in Dublin, which is a great difficulty because there is a need for far greater co-operation, as Senator Maurice Hayes said, between the local authorities and the Garda Síochána. This is one of the difficult areas. Outside Dublin we go back to the districts formed in the times of the Royal Irish Constabulary and its modern replacements within the Garda Síochána. The division is more in the nature of an administrative unit where the chief superintendent supervises the work of the individual districts. The individual districts are of very long standing but by and large they correspond to the principal provincial towns and their hinterlands. It would be easier outside Dublin to construct local authority committees that reflected the districts than it would be in Dublin.

Senator Leyden raised a question about those who would attend these committees. The intention is that the chief superintendent attends the committee but that does not preclude him being assisted by an officer, be it the superintendent, an inspector, a juvenile liaison officer if an issue of juvenile crime is under consideration or the relevant officer as the case might be.