Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hear Senators and, in the Lower House, Deputies talking about the merging of areas as though no two counties can be under the same chief superintendent. There are already divisions with more than one county in several locations around the State. I represent the constituency of Laois-Offaly. Since the foundation of the State, both counties have been policed from a Garda headquarters in Portlaoise. Did anyone ever tell me when Mr. Brian Cowen from Tullamore was Taoiseach that Tullamore was suffering because the chief superintendent was situated in an office in Portlaoise? It was never mentioned. I ask Senator Gallagher and others to look through the Dáil record of debates on policing and crime. It was never said in the "downgrade" terms that I am now hearing. That term feeds nicely into the political climate-----