David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am always amused when I hear Government representatives talk about the Opposition playing politics with issues. I am sure if we were to waste our time and go back over endless hours of contributions the Minister made when he was Opposition spokesman for his party and when he was seeking to hold the then Government to account on a range of issues, we would see that he was often accused of playing politics with issues. It strikes me this Government in particular is trying to rewrite, not just history, but how we do politics and the role of the Opposition. We seem to get this attitude a lot from the Government. It is as if it cannot be criticised and any criticism is seen as playing party politics with issues.

I find the Minister's response on this issue entirely disingenuous. The Minister talks about smart policing, but he is really engaged in semantics. There is nobody in the Chamber against smart policing. Nobody here is against better and more effective use of Garda resources. Therefore, there is nobody against the principle of smart policing. However, many people outside of this Chamber living in communities that will be affected by the closure of Garda stations, the reduction in Garda numbers and a reduction of resources generally to the Garda Síochána will see all of these reductions as anything but smart. The demand for protests and the demand to hold the Government to account on these issues comes from communities that feel isolated, particularly those in rural areas, and which are fearful of the kinds of policies being put in place by the Government.

The Minister also makes the charge that some people find change difficulty. I accept that some people do find change difficult. However, most people do not find cuts to the resources of An Garda Síochána, to the number of gardaí patrolling the streets and to the number of Garda stations difficult, but they see them as wrong and as something that should not happen. The Minister also spoke about public representatives fuelling fear, but many people are genuinely fearful of the changes being made.

The premise of the Minister's argument here today is entirely disingenuous. He is correct and I agree with him with regard to the hypocrisy of the Fianna Fáil Party in tabling this motion, because it was the party that agreed to the National Recovery Plan 2010-2014, the now infamous four-year plan. It was the party that agreed with the troika that we should reduce Garda numbers and that agreed cuts in the number of Garda stations. However, the Minister is delivering on those policies. Therefore, he cannot on the one hand come in here and accuse Fianna Fáil of hypocrisy and on the other come in as a Minister who is continuing with those policies. He has no new policies of his own, but is continuing with the policies negotiated by the previous Government with the troika.

While the Minister sits there and says that members of the Opposition are whipping up fear, the reality is that we meet members of the community every day of the week who are genuinely concerned about these cuts. We also meet rank and file members of An Garda Síochána who are also fearful. The Government makes great play of the fact the Garda Commission is on the public record as saying he is confident he can provide the same level of service with the resources he has. What else would one expect him to say? A Garda Commissioner will not step into the political arena and engage in that type of debate. This has always been the case and is the correct position for any Garda commissioner. However, the Minister can bet his bottom dollar that behind the scenes, the Garda Commissioner, Chief Superintendents and superintendents and Garda sergeants and community police officers across the State are very concerned about the cuts the Minister, his party and the Government are making in this area.

While I share the Minister's view regarding the hypocrisy of Fianna Fáil, I level the same charge against the Minister.

He is also engaged in hypocrisy. When he was his party's justice spokesman in opposition, he railed against the very changes he is now implementing, including cuts in Garda numbers and Garda station closures. As a Fianna Fáil Senator said, the exact same thing is evident during debates on many other issues, including health. While I agree that Fianna Fáil has a brass neck to come in here to engage in such hypocrisy, I contend that the Minister has a brass neck as well.