Vol. 458 No. 1
10 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Justice if she will expedite the delay in replacing personnel in Garda stations in the Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush and Lusk areas in view of the fact that incidents of crime go unreported because stations are often closed and patrols infrequent. [16512/95]
The allocation of Garda personnel and resources to individual areas is a matter for the Garda authorities. They have informed me that the present strength at the stations concerned is as follows: Balbriggan, 32; Skerries, 7; Rush, 5; Lusk, 3.
Balbriggan is the district headquarters and is open to the public 24 hours each day. The other stations have limited opening hours although the Garda authorities say that it is necessary, on occasions, to alter their prescribed opening hours to cope with unforeseen circumstances.
Foot and mobile patrols are carried out in each of the towns referred to in the question. There is one marked and one unmarked patrol car allocated to Balbriggan, and one marked patrol car each allocated to Skerries and Rush stations which perform mobile patrols in their areas. There is no patrol car assigned to Lusk but the area is patrolled by the vehicles attached to Balbriggan, Skerries and Rush.
There is no basis to the Deputy's suggestions that incidents of crime are not reported because stations are closed. The crime trend for the first nine months of this year suggests that there will be a drop of more than 40 per cent in the crime rate in the Balbriggan area this year compared to last year's figure. Since the Balbriggan station is open on a 24-hour day basis, it can hardly be said that the crime figures are down because the station is closed. In any event when a station is closed personal callers have facilities to contact the district headquarters direct.
The Garda authorities are satisfied that the best possible Garda coverage is being provided in the Balbriggan district with the current deployment of personnel and resources and they have no plans at present to allocate additional gardaí to the stations referred to in the question. However, the position is being kept under review.
For a while I was not sure whether the Minister was answering my question. The deployment of gardaí, particularly to Skerries, is eagerly awaited. Will the Minister review the position whereby, because the Balbriggan district has responsibility for policing Trinity House and Oberstown House, two premises well known to the Minister, stations are frequently closed, particularly in Lusk. In that context it is unacceptable for the Minister to say there is no basis for suggesting that crime is often unreported. I ask him, when reviewing the position, to take into account that gardaí in the Balbriggan area have to escort young offenders around the country. That work also takes up much of the overtime budget for the district, resulting in cutbacks in other areas.
I hoped I would not have to tell the Deputy that the matter of policing in the areas to which he referred, Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush and Lusk is given continuous attention in the Department of Justice. The position could hardly be anything other than that, given that the Minister represents that area.
That is favouritism.
I assure the Deputy that the Minister's concern is at least as great as that expressed by him. I am somewhat concerned that he queried the opening times I gave for one station of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. He did not say it was a matter of personal observation, he said it emanated from other sources.
The Deputy referred to the position regarding Oberstown House and Trinity House. Wearing my education hat I am concerned about that matter also and have put in train certain steps to deal with it. Wearing my justice hat, I accept that members of the force from the Balbriggan district are called upon to escort juvenile detainees from the detention centres at Oberstown House and Trinity House in Lusk to court as required. Escorts are also provided by personnel from other stations in the Balbriggan district. The Lusk area receives Garda coverage from personnel attached to Skerries, Rush or Balbriggan stations when gardaí at Lusk station are deployed on escorting duties. This type of escort duty is part and parcel of the demands placed on our Garda force. I give an assurance that the Minister for Justice will pay the necessary attenion to those areas and the Deputy need not be concerned in that regard.
I am sure the Minister of State will realise that I am worried on behalf of others. Will he examine the matter of the long awaited allocation of two additional gardaí to Skerries? I would greatly appreciate if this matter could be expedited.
I will refer that matter to the Minister for Justice.
On behalf of my colleagues, I wish Questions Nos. 11, 15, 19, 23, 29, 32, 33, 35, 38, 42, 47, 48, 49, 55, 56 and 60 to be deferred for oral reply until the next day's questions will be taken by the Minister for Justice.
I am sure that is satisfactory, Deputy.
