Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the announcement in the budget of the recruitment of 700 new gardaí. I further welcome the fact that 15 new gardaí were deployed in the Cavan-Monaghan division after March and that at the recent meeting of the Committee on Justice and Equality, the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, announced that an armed support unit would be deployed to Cavan. I am also hoping that Cavan and Monaghan will get a disproportionate number of the 700 new recruits. The reason is that in recent times there have been serious acts of brutal violence and intimidation along the Border with regard to the Quinn executives. Sadly, that appears to be continuing on the northern side. An extra deployment of police is necessary, as is extra vigilance.

I ask the Leader to invite the Minister for Justice and Equality to the House to discuss this. It is something that must be reviewed quarterly at least, with regard to progress, policing levels and augmenting policing levels along the Border to deal with the crisis. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, was proactive in going there very quickly to meet the Quinn executives and deal with the issue. I seek an assurance from the Leader, first, that he will invite the Minister to the House and, second, that he will convey to the Minister my anxiety that this matter receive a review in the Houses of the Oireachtas each quarter at least, so we can monitor it until we get the desired outcomes.