Dee Ryan (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister. That is a really welcome response. We look forward to welcoming him to Limerick next week and for many engagements. Perhaps we will hear more directly from Chief Superintendent Smart on this topic. If we were to have these gardaí released back to Henry Street Garda Station, it would be a much-welcomed addition to our forces in Limerick. I look forward to engaging with the Minister further on that.

I commend and thank him and his Department on the support for the community access support team, CAST, which is a pioneering innovation and pilot scheme in Limerick. It further demonstrates the Minister's commitment to trialling new and innovative ways of engaging with the public. This pilot scheme places a mental health professional in a squad car with a member of the Garda Síochána. At the moment we are trialling it from within existing Garda resources. That is to ensure that in the case of an emergency call where a policing response is not the most appropriate response, there is a mental health professional on the scene to give the appropriate care to that individual. From speaking to the HSE and the gardaí in Limerick, the initial results have been really exciting for everybody involved. We look forward to briefing the Minister on that next week when he is down.