Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Local papers in Carlow last week carried front page headlines reading "Lack of gardaí led to closure of station". This was in Carlow town, which has a population of over 20,000 people. In yesterday's Carlow People the chief superintendent admitted there is a major drug problem in Carlow. There is grave concern in Carlow town and county about the manpower levels in the Garda division. There is a view that gardaí have been taken out of the station and diverted into the traffic corps and initiatives such as Operation Anvil. That comes at a cost because Garda numbers have decreased elsewhere.

The Minister's speech writers cite statistics on Garda levels in 1997. The population of Carlow has increased substantially in the past ten years but Garda numbers have not kept up. Unfortunately the increase in population has brought an increase in social problems. Carlow town is one of the fastest growing towns in the country and is almost as big as Kilkenny city. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, was in Carlow recently at a launch organised by the Irish Wheelchair Association and saw how big the town is.

It is vital that we have a proper dedicated Garda force with the facilities, resources and manpower to do its job. A serious incident recently occurred at 6.30 a.m. on a Monday which was attended by the only two gardaí on duty, leaving no garda in Carlow Garda station. While this was an isolated and exceptional case, it is worrying. I want the Minister to update us on the Garda manpower levels in the Carlow town area and commit to increasing them substantially in the coming months, especially to make up for any manpower losses as a result of diversions to the traffic corps, the drug squad or Operation Anvil.