David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also raise the issue of crime. We had a terrible stabbing yesterday on O'Connell Street. I would like to put that in the context of the Government's decision, under pressure from the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, to reopen the Garda station in Stepaside, an area with falling crime statistics. In the north inner city, Fitzgibbon Street Garda station has been closed or maybe there is one garda working in an adjoining office. It is disgraceful that while the most deprived area of the city and the area with the highest crime rate does not have a proper Garda station, whereas Stepaside, a well heeled area in the Dublin mountains, is having a Garda station reopened at a cost of €1.5 million. It is a classic example of the Minister's stroke politics.