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

I again thank the Senator for raising this important matter. As I said, the Government is committed to a strong, visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, to provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. In addition to its commitment to achieving an overall Garda workforce of 21,000, the Government initiated a process to re-open, on a pilot basis, six of the Garda stations closed under the Garda Síochána district and station rationalisation programme. As I said, the Commissioner recently submitted his final report on the pilot and the report contains the recommendation that Rush Garda station be one of the six stations to be included in the pilot. The timeframe for the re-opening of Rush Garda station, as in the case of the other stations to be re-opened, is dependent on a number of factors, including the brief of requirements from An Garda Síochána, the extent of required refurbishment based on current building regulations, the need to comply with fire regulations and to provide disability access, in addition to standards and specifications regarding cell liaison and custody suites. Once the specifications have been agreed the works will go to tender and will commence when the contract has been placed.

The Senator has asked a number of questions to which I do not have answers today because the initial question asked for a timeframe for the re-opening of Rush Garda station, which as I outlined is dependent on agreement on specifications and other issues. I will ask that the information requested by the Senator be sent to her as soon as it is available.