Vol. 478 No. 4
179 Miss Harney asked the Minister for Justice the plans, if any, she has to maintain the presence of community gardaí within each community on an ongoing basis in view of the fact that their presence has proven very effective in combating the level of crime in many areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11260/97]
The deployment of the Garda Síochána is the responsibility of the Garda authorities.
The rural community policing scheme has been in operation in 14 garda districts throughout the country since 1991. The Garda authorities are currently reviewing the scheme with a view to its possible extension to further districts. With regard to community policing in urban areas, the first community garda was appointed in the Loughlinstown-Ballybrack area of south County Dublin in November 1987 and there has been a gradual expansion of the scheme since then. The number of neighbourhood gardaí employed in each division is at the discretion of local management within the Garda Síochána and, of course, they must always be allowed the flexibility to make the best use of resources available to deal with priority demands.
Besides operating in the Dublin Metropolitan area the scheme has been further expanded to include other major centres as follows: Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford, Sligo, Dundalk and Mullingar.
The Garda authorities consider that the community policing scheme in urban areas has proved to be a very successful way of putting gardaí in closer touch with the community they serve and of providing a more visible garda presence locally. There are, urban areas, approximately 2,260 neighbourhood watch schemes all of which have a named garda appointed for liaison work.
Following a review of policing in a number of areas of Dublin city in October 1996, garda resources were refocused and concentrated on an initiative, Operation Dóchas, to tackle crime and public order in a number of areas. While drug related activities were the main focus of this initiative, a full and comprehensive policing service is being provided in these areas. I am informed by the Garda that because of its unqualified success, this particular initiative in Dublin city is likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
