Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I echo the comments made by Senators O'Loughlin and Clonan about Conor McGregor. We have many wonderful ambassadors from the worlds of sport, theatre and music and from other fields who could have represented our values in the White House, and he is not one of them. I am loath to mention his name but he does not represent the vast majority of the people of Ireland and should never have got the platform he did.

I raise with the Ceannaire a report in the Irish Independent yesterday stating that almost one quarter of Garda stations countrywide, which is more than 500 stations, had fewer gardaí at the end of 2024 than they had at the beginning. In particular, Cavan town's Garda station saw a reduction of almost one third of its force, from 94 gardaí to 63, which is hugely concerning. I note the number of gardaí in Dublin city has increased. That is welcome and needed, given it is a centre of population, but this should not happen at the cost of rural Garda stations throughout our counties. Cavan Garda Station is one of only two Garda stations in the country that are open 24-7. We need more than 90 gardaí in that station. This is putting huge pressure on the remaining gardaí there, whose complement has been reduced by one third. I am asking for the Minister for Justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, to comment on the reduction in Garda numbers and what he is doing to address that in Cavan town and other areas. Whether we get a debate or just a response from the Minister, I would really appreciate it.