It is not possible to say from the records of the Department of Justice the number of times the powers vested in the Minister for Justice under Section 6 (1) of the Garda Síochána Act, 1924, were used in the past to direct the Garda Commissioner as to the distribution or stationing of the Garda Síochána throughout the State. Neither is it possible for the Garda authorities to provide this information as their records are not kept in a form which would enable them to do so.
However, the powers of the Minister for Justice under Section 6 (1) of the Garda Síochána Act, 1924, are the basis for decisions by successive Ministers for Justice in relation to the opening and closing of Garda stations and the redrawing of divisional, district, sub-district or sub-station boundaries.
It is not unknown for the Minister for Justice to receive representations from various quarters, sometimes by way of parliamentary question, to effect changes of this nature.