Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 498: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the situation regarding the future of a Garda station (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15429/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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As you are aware the Commissioner's Policing Plan for 2012, which I laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas on 5 December 2011, sets out the future opening hours of 10 Garda Stations and the closure of 39 Garda Stations. Miltown Malbay Garda Station is not on this list. The only station in the Clare Garda Division which is due to close is Carrigaholt Garda Station.

In preparing the Policing Plan, the Garda Commissioner reviewed all aspects of the Garda Síochána's policing model, including the deployment of personnel, the utilisation of modern technologies and the operation of Garda stations, both in terms of opening hours and possible closures. In addition, all Divisional Officers were asked to assess the level of activity in each Garda Station in their area. It must be stressed that the key objective of the station closures is to promote the more efficient and effective deployment of resources rather than secure modest cash savings. In this context the Commissioner has concluded that Garda resources could be better deployed and more effectively used on the frontline if a particular station no longer had to be staffed and maintained. The Policing Plan for 2013 has not yet been prepared and therefore it is not possible to say at this stage what it may contain.

Specifically in relation to the Clare Garda Division, on 29 February 2012, the latest date for which figures are readily available, there were 296 Gardaí are assigned to the Division of which 33 are assigned to the Ennistymon District and 3 are assigned to the Miltown Malbay Garda Station. There are also 19 Garda Reserve members and 33 civilian staff assigned to different stations across the Division. These resources are augmented, when appropriate, by Gardaí from national units such as the Garda National Drug Unit and the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.