Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding the closure of the proposed 95 Garda Stations in view of the fact that they more than serve as a crime preventing measure. [6853/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Commissioner's Policing Plan for 2013 sets out details for the closure of 100 Garda stations throughout the country. 95 of these stations were closed on the 31 January 2013 and the remaining 5 will be closed in the coming months. The Garda Commissioner has stated that the revised structures will continue to support the Garda community philosophy through the clustering of services at policing hubs. This centralisation of services will facilitate the introduction of enhanced patrolling arrangements which, in turn, will provide increased Garda visibility as well as maintaining existing Garda links with communities throughout the country. The objective will be to ensure that the best possible policing service will continue to be provided to our communities. The Garda Commissioner has also advised that closure of stations will result in some additional 61,000 patrolling hours being available for operational policing.

In addition, the Garda Síochána has recently acquired a number of vehicles which are being converted into mobile Garda offices and it is planned that they will be assigned to areas where Garda stations have been closed to ensure that members of the public can continue to conduct their business and interact with members of An Garda Síochána.

Gardaí work closely with all communities to enhance community safety through a wide range of local fora such as Community Alert and Neighbourhood Watch. Neither I as Minister nor the Government will shirk in our responsibility to do everything we can to maintain the strong Garda connection with the Community and to ensure that to the maximum extent possible resources will continue to be made available to the Garda Síochána. I am confident that the Garda Síochána will continue to provide a professional policing service right across the country in a manner that is effective and is consistent with the highest standards for which the Force is renowned.