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

I thank the Senator for his contribution. I assure him that I will bring his views and comments to the notice of the Minister.This type of criminal behaviour has no place in civilised society and will not be tolerated. An Garda Síochána has overcome similar challenges in the past and will do so again. Gardaí in Drogheda have put in place a policing operation to prevent, detect and mitigate against any further escalation of violence, which will entail a number of high visibility patrols. Every Member will wish them every success in their work.

The Government is firmly committed to supporting An Garda Síochána in ensuring that the organisation is appropriately resourced. The resources available to the Garda have reached unprecedented levels with the provision in 2018 of more than €1.6 billion, including an allocation of €96 million for overtime. Furthermore, tangible progress is being made on achieving the Government's vision of an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021. Since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014 almost 2,200 recruits have attested as members, of whom 35 have been allocated to the Drogheda district and assigned to mainstream duties. This and ongoing recruitment will clearly provide a significant amount of additional policing hours throughout the country both in terms of the increased number of new gardaí and the redeployment of gardaí to policing duties due to civilianisation. Over a period of time this is expected to alleviate pressure on the Garda overtime budget. It is also the case that the unprecedented investment being made in the ICT infrastructure of €342 million between 2016 and 2021 will enable An Garda Síochána to deliver on reform, work more efficiently and deploy the latest cutting-edge technologies in delivering professional policing and security services.

I agree with the Senator and I take this opportunity to reiterate that if anybody has any information about incidents, he or she should contact the local Garda station or ring the Garda confidential line at 1800 666 111 as soon as possible. Any information, no matter how small, could be of great assistance to the ongoing Garda inquiries. In addition, as the Senator said, GSOC is also there for certain types of information and complaints.