Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The purpose of the provisions of this section is to free up the position of gardaí engaged in what are described as static protection duties on public offices in the State, mainly in Dublin, as listed in the Bill. It may not be generally appreciated that retaining one member the Garda Síochána on this duty requires more than five other officers to be rostered for that duty. Proposals have been made over the years to allow for the release of this not inconsiderable number of highly-trained Garda officers for normal policing work. However, most of them have come to nothing. On the initiative of a previous Garda Commissioner about ten years ago, serious attempts were made to deal with the matter principally on an administration basis, but that came to nothing. The proposal in the Bill represents a determined effort by the Government to put the issue on a proper statutory footing.