Manus Boyle (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Following the recent news from the Department of justice of the allocation of new members of An Garda Síochána, I am very disappointed to hear that only one has been pledged to County Donegal. Geographically, Donegal is a uniquely demanding, vast rural area with a poor road network. Gardaí are regularly covering huge patrol areas on their own. Response times are extremely long. Backup can take about 30 to 60 minutes to arrive. The night shift runs on minimal cover. Single Garda units attend horrible accidents. This has effects on members and the public. It is one of the core operational risks. Donegal has a large population and seasonal surges with a massive summer increase because of tourists, festivals and holiday homes. Garda demand spikes, but staffing does not. Being a Border county adds additional strain. Crime utilises the Border. This results in more time being spent at incidents on average than other counties. The Garda has to liaise with the PSNI, which takes up a lot of time and paperwork.

Keeping our staff in Donegal is a major problem. Many leave as soon as they are eligible for transfers. Donegal's location discourages long-time placement and as a result, rapport and relationships with communities fall by the wayside. There is a demand for more members who come from Donegal to be stationed in Donegal, yet the requests are often not approved or take a very long time to reach approval. The system prioritises holding the line elsewhere. Donegal becomes the release valve. Members of the Garda are sent to other counties but, in lots of cases, are not being sent back. This directly discourages Donegal applicants from applying. Many of our gardaí are renting properties in rent pressure zones in other counties, and they have their own accommodation in Donegal. This is adding unnecessary pressure on the rental market.

The Minister was up in Donegal a couple of weeks ago and he had a very positive meeting with gardaí and with the local communities. He is an absolute gentleman. However, we really need help here. One garda for the size of Donegal is just not enough. I am not getting at the Minister here, no way, but from being up there, he sees the geographical size of the county. We really need more help and more reinforcements up there.