John Kelly (Labour)

I do not accept that one well-trained garda would not be able to do enough to thwart criminals crossing a narrow bridge in Tarmonbarry. The Boyle Garda division, despite all its personnel, is 45 minutes away from Tarmonbarry. It is not necessarily true that a Garda Commissioner or whoever makes decisions at the highest level always gets it 100% right. This particular decision is flawed. I am amazed that 20 years ago, when there were 18 houses in Tarmonbarry, it was possible to have a sergeant and five gardaí in the station. Today, with more than 400 houses, the station is manned by one garda and now the one garda is being taken away. I appreciate the Minister is accepting the advice of the Garda Commissioner but I ask the Minister to ask the Commissioner to review the decision to close Tarmonbarry Garda station.