Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Senator that I will continue to engage with my Government colleagues. This particular issue was raised at a recent Government meeting. I have spoken directly to the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, who like the Senator have a considerable knowledge of the area, its people and the community. I would be happy to continue to engage with other Departments to progress the type of collaborative approach the Senator has proposed, taking a note of the issues the Senator has raised.

My Department is actively working on drafting new policing legislation to ensure the broader concept of community safety will be embedded in statute. Key to this is policing in partnership with communities along with other Departments and agencies, not solely those under the remit of the Department of Justice and Equality, to provide essential services and supports to communities. I am thinking of agencies under the Departments of Health, Employment Affairs and Social Protection, and Housing, Planning and Local Government. I am anxious to have a collaborative approach across agencies, involving in particular those who provide essential services and essential supports to communities and individuals at risk. In that regard I acknowledge what the Senator has said.

As well as the Government accepting all 157 key recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland in December, I also published a four-year high-level plan, Policing Service for the Future. This sets out the approach to the implementation which will be overseen and is currently overseen by a dedicated programme office in the Department of the Taoiseach, which is a key recommendation in the commission's report.

Another key element of the implementation is to ensure that local front-line policing will be placed at the core of the police service. This brings me to the Senator's second point about garda numbers and Garda resources, the object of the exercise being that gardaí are more visible in communities and therefore more active in communities. I remain committed to achieving an increase in the overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021, which will involve 15,000 sworn Garda members. I look forward to attending the Garda College in Templemore next week where we will see a further 200 young, ambitious, energetic gardaí engaged in active duties within two weeks of their graduation. I would be happy to continue to engage with Garda management on the particular issue the Senator raised. I trust he will do so also through such bodies as the joint policing committee in the area.

I assure the Senator and all Members of this House that the State will continue to relentlessly pursue those who engage in criminality and threaten the safety of communities. The full force of the law will be brought to bear on those behind this violence and related gangland activities. I would be happy to engage further with the Senator on the specific proposal he has made this morning.