Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It was announced at a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts in November 2017 that Rush Garda station was among six that An Garda Síochána was recommending the Government reopen as part of a pilot programme. This was welcomed in Rush and across north County Dublin. The town has a population of 10,000 people and it is growing rapidly. It really felt the loss of its Garda station. By way of Commencement matter a few weeks after the announcement, I asked the Minister to give an outline of the timescale for the reopening. The people of Rush were anxious that the Garda station be reopened as soon as possible. I was informed that the head of estate management in An Garda Síochána had written to the Office of Public Works, OPW, to start a dialogue on the requirements of An Garda Síochána and to allow the OPW to complete an assessment of what is needed, taking into account current building standards and regulations. I was further informed that a tender process would commence once the assessment was complete. Contracts would be signed when the tender process was finished and the work started. The Garda station would finally be opened when the work was complete.

Will the Minister let me know where stands this process? Has the assessment been completed? If not, when is it envisaged that it will be completed? When will the tender process be commenced if the assessment is completed and how long is it envisaged that this process will take? It is also important to note that extra Garda resources are required when the station does eventually reopen. Fingal is the most rapidly growing area in the country and there are not enough gardaí there at present. Will the Minister provide an update, in so far as is possible, on the reopening of Rush Garda station?