Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will speak on the issue of capital planning. We all know that the process of budgeting resources for organisations is a budgeting process for their long-term future that includes projections for future projects.I commend the Minister and the Department. Around the country, we can see beautiful Garda stations. I think we have seen these in all our communities. I know the OPW can be involved a lot of the time in this work. Kudos must go to that organisation and to the previous capital planning within An Garda Síochána. The station at Kevin Street is beautiful and state-of-the-art. The Garda station in my area in Crumlin is getting a revamp. It is not a full rebuild but significant structural works have been undertaken. It is very welcome. It not only improves the Garda station itself, but also the locality. This type of work improves our villages and towns around the country. We all know it is prudent to have a multi-year capital plan.

I might be missing something here, but there does not seem to be a timeframe on the capital plan. Usually, these are for between five and 25 years. The Minister might be able to shed some light on this for me. I am excited to find out what the plans for the future are for An Garda Síochána. I know that certain Garda stations around the country are seeking improvements, and that new Garda stations are being sought in other places. I commend the Minister again on what has been done to date. I would like a bit more clarification in terms of how long this new capital plan will be for.