Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The redeployment of Garda resources is not being felt in the community. I can give the Minister of State some real examples at a later stage. It is really not being felt on the ground and the people of Rush have really felt the impact of not having a Garda station, even as a place to go to get their passport form signed or to get Garda vetting. Not having a Garda station is very difficult for a community of 10,000 people. The Minister of State referred to the increase in Garda numbers. Garda numbers have dropped in the division that covers the area in question. Fingal is the fastest growing county in Ireland and it is unacceptable that it is seeing a drop in Garda numbers.

I understand that the report is being compiled by the Commissioner. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has secured the re-opening of Stepaside Garda station and it is a bit unbelievable for everybody else to believe that this is totally independent of Government. I do not mean to labour the point but we do not have a Minister in north county Dublin and we urgently need the re-opening of Rush Garda station. I appeal to the Minister of State to include it in the pilot scheme.