Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his views on the reduction of the resources available to his Department arising from the Memorandum of Understanding entered into by his predecessors, that he will be in a position to retain the highest possible number of Garda Stations in all areas throughout the country in keeping with best policing practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11902/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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It goes without saying that no Minister would choose to inherit the appalling financial position in which I have had to operate. In that context, the legacy the last Fianna Fáil-led government bequeathed to me was a series of expenditure ceilings for the Justice Sector which, if applied, would have resulted in devastating cuts in Garda services which I, as Minister, would not and could not stand over. The Fianna Fáil National Recovery Plan was unacceptable and would certainly have put the Garda Commissioner in an impossible position. Fortunately, I was able to secure additional funding over the three year period, 2012-2014, to ensure that the Garda Commissioner, and indeed An Garda Síochána, could continue to deliver an effective policing service.

Ireland's agreements with the Troika do not include the closure of Garda stations. Over the last two years the Commissioner has carried out a complete review of the District and Station network and in his professional opinion, with which I fully agree, has set out details for the closure of 139 Garda stations throughout the country. 39 of these stations were closed in 2012. 8 of these had not been opened for a number of years. Their closure was a paper exercise which simply recognised reality. 95 were closed on the 31st January 2013 and the remaining 5 will be closed in the coming months.

While the Policing plans for 2014 and 2015 have not yet been prepared, I understand, from discussions with the Garda Commissioner, that the current consolidation process will be largely completed by the end of this year and it seems unlikely at this point in time that there will be any further station closures in 2014 and 2015.