Alison Comyn (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am afraid this is the second time I have raised this issue but given the plethora of emails I have received about rising crime in east Meath over the last couple of days, I have to raise the issue of Laytown Garda station again. It is currently housed in a small housing estate and it is only open on Sunday and Monday between 10 a.m. and 12 noon. These is not a sleepy, fishing or seaside village we are talking about any more; this Garda station looks after a population in excess of 15,500 people. I could be talking about many Garda stations across the country at the moment.

I am looking at some of the emails I have received. One is titled “Scared in our Own Home”, and states:

Within the last month, there have been at least three attempted break-ins on the roads of cars and homes, the most recent one last night. Along with other residents with young families trying to settle here, we are living on our nerves. It is getting lawless up here. These criminals are brazen.

Another email states:

I have personally witnessed over the last six months three serious incidents directly outside my front door. Last night at 5 a.m., there was an attempted house and car theft where three cars pulled up full of men dressed in black. I have a two-week old baby and I cannot express how frightening it is to feel so unsafe in my own home.

A new Garda station was promised for Laytown in 2022 when Deputy Helen McEntee was the Minister for Justice. These housing estates that I spoke about are three or four minutes away from Laytown Garda station. As it is, their nearest Garda station is Ashbourne, which is over 40 minutes away, and that is presuming that someone gets the call. Yes, they can call Drogheda, Duleek or Dunleer stations, but the smaller stations are only open for a couple of hours. It is clear that with huge populations across the country, small Garda stations are now completely overburdened. With regard to this Garda station in particular, it was promised in 2022 to look at a new building. We need to have a wider conversation with the Department of justice and to invite the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, in to have a debate on this particular Garda station and the many other rural ones right across the country.