Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know we have been back and forth on this but the point I raised was that if there is evaluation and the objectives are not met, will further time be given or is a particular process employed after that point - almost an evaluation as to why objectives are not being met? My concern remains that the view in rural areas is that because Garda resources are at times constrained and a lot of overtime is being used, resources will be pulled from rural areas to the cities and bigger towns. Regarding a policy like this where objectives are laid out and there is an assessment as to whether we have met those objectives or done the job to a certain standard, what is the follow-on if the assessment does not produce the desired result? I would be concerned that this might serve to incentivise the movement of resources from one area to another to the detriment of the less challenging areas.

It is important to address this. I know the Minister says it is a national plan and that it will not ignore the differences across the country but it is important that in a strategic plan for the country, there is an acknowledgement that rural towns and villages and the islands are catered for properly in the national plan and as Senator Paul Daly said, that the consultation process does have regional input into that because the challenges are very different. Some are the same but there are different challenges across the regions. There is a view, rightly or wrongly, in rural areas outside big towns and cities that we are a bit of an afterthought at times and that sometimes when resources are tight, they are pulled from rural areas. Because of that assessment process, it is important to know what happens if the results are not desired. What is the follow on?