David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Again, on behalf of the Tánaiste, I thank the Senator for raising this important matter in the House. As I have stated, the Government is committed to ensuring visible, effective and responsive policing in every community, including by way of minimal possible response times. In this context, Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review to ensure optimum use is made of these resources. Garda management has implemented additional policing measures in response to the recent incidents in the Kildare division to which the Senator has referred. Additional measures include Garda foot patrols, checkpoints and patrols by the regional support unit. This is in addition to the high level of Garda co-operation with local communities in the Maynooth area and the local university. The division has already benefited from the Government's accelerated Garda recruitment programme. It is anticipated that in 2017, as recruitment continues, An Garda Síochána will be in a position to allocate more probationer gardaí to the division. Again, I thank the Senator for raising this important matter and for his interest in these vital issues.