Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton.

Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State is welcome to the Chamber. Last week, Assistant Garda Commissioner Pat Leahy confirmed at a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts that Rush Garda station was on the list of six stations that were to be recommended to the Government for reopening. I welcome this decision. Rush Garda station's closure in 2012 has had an adverse impact on the local community. Rush is a town with a population of 10,000 people and is growing rapidly.

The Government announced a re-examination of closed Garda stations. When I tabled a Commencement matter in March regarding the need to reopen Rush station, I was told that a report would go to the Minister at the end of May. In July, it was announced to much fanfare that Stepaside Garda station would reopen and that five other stations were listed in an interim report. Various unconfirmed reports at the time placed Rush as one of the five. We in north County Dublin were happy with that, but it has taken until November for the final report to be sent to the Government.

While the reopening is welcome, there is a fear across north County Dublin that this is a false dawn. That is why I am calling on the Minister of State to give a clear timeframe for the station's reopening. Remedial works will have to be completed. Vehicles and ICT equipment must be provided. Most importantly, extra gardaí will have to be allocated to the station. There is a severe shortage of gardaí in Fingal, the fastest growing county council area in Ireland. There are 177 gardaí in its division at any one time, taking into consideration sick leave, maternity leave, UN duty and so on. That is not enough. We must ensure that, instead of these gardaí being reassigned to Rush, more gardaí must be put in place so that Rush Garda station can be reopened without a decrease of service across the division.

Assistant Commissioner Leahy stated last week that he would have preferred to allocate extra gardaí to stations other than Stepaside. Will that be the case with Rush? Will the Minister of State give the people of Rush guarantees regarding the timeframe, whether the reopening will be fast-tracked and prioritised and whether Rush will receive the necessary resources, thereby ensuring that the station will reopen without further delay? When will this station have its doors open and when will it serve the people of Rush again? When will the extra gardaí be assigned as opposed to merely being redistributed from within the division?

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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The Minister sends his apologies. Unfortunately, he cannot attend because he is taking business in the Dáil. On his behalf, I thank the Senator for raising this important matter.

The Senator will appreciate that the Garda Commissioner is primarily responsible for the effective and efficient use of the resources available to him, including in respect of the opening and closing of Garda stations. The programme for Government commits the Government to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and deter crime. A cornerstone of this commitment is the Government's plan to achieve an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021, comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians.

Revisiting the decision that was taken to close Garda stations at the depths of the recession is also a part of that commitment. In this context, the former Tánaiste, following the approval of the Government in June 2016, requested the then Garda Commissioner, while fully cognisant of the Commissioner's statutory functions, to identify six stations for reopening on a pilot basis to determine the possible positive impacts that such openings would have on criminal activity, with special emphasis on burglaries, theft and public order.

The current Garda Commissioner recently submitted his final report on the pilot.The report contains a recommendation that Rush Garda station be one of the six Garda stations to be included in the pilot scheme, along with the Garda stations at Ballinspittle, County Cork, Bawnboy, County Cavan, Leighlinbridge, County Wicklow, and Stepaside, County Dublin. The Minister intends to bring the final report to Government shortly. In the meantime, the Commissioner has written to the Office of Public Works and instructed it to progress the matter.

The Minister understands that a timetable for the re-opening of the stations concerned is dependent on a number of factors, including the brief of requirements from An Garda Síochána, the extent of the required refurbishment based on current building regulations, the need to comply with fire regulations and to provide disability access. There are also agreed standards and specifications for Garda cell areas and custody suites which would have to be incorporated into the refurbishment. Once the specifications have been agreed, the works will go to tender and will commence when the contract has been placed.

Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State mentioned that the Minister intends to bring the final report to Government shortly. Can he give me a commitment that this will be done before Christmas? On the specifications agreement, what is the timeframe in that regard? For example, will it be one month, two months or six months? What is the timeframe for the tender process and within what timeframe following closure of this process will a decision be made? These are the specific questions to which the people of Rush would like an answer.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Senator for raising this important matter. As I said, the Government is committed to a strong, visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, to provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. In addition to its commitment to achieving an overall Garda workforce of 21,000, the Government initiated a process to re-open, on a pilot basis, six of the Garda stations closed under the Garda Síochána district and station rationalisation programme. As I said, the Commissioner recently submitted his final report on the pilot and the report contains the recommendation that Rush Garda station be one of the six stations to be included in the pilot. The timeframe for the re-opening of Rush Garda station, as in the case of the other stations to be re-opened, is dependent on a number of factors, including the brief of requirements from An Garda Síochána, the extent of required refurbishment based on current building regulations, the need to comply with fire regulations and to provide disability access, in addition to standards and specifications regarding cell liaison and custody suites. Once the specifications have been agreed the works will go to tender and will commence when the contract has been placed.

The Senator has asked a number of questions to which I do not have answers today because the initial question asked for a timeframe for the re-opening of Rush Garda station, which as I outlined is dependent on agreement on specifications and other issues. I will ask that the information requested by the Senator be sent to her as soon as it is available.