I raise the threat of closure of Fitzgibbon Street and Mountjoy Garda stations. There is considerable alarm in the local community about threat of closure of one, or both, of these stations and to the services they provide. Currently, an extensive petition campaign is being conducted by the local community in regard to Fitzgibbon Street Garda station which seeks its retention and opposes its closure. No doubt the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform will receive a bundle of signatures from local residents shortly.
Last night at the community policing forum in Fitzgibbon Street Garda station, which was attended by a large number of local residents, there was total opposition to any proposal to close the station. There is a proposal to refurbish the station due to its inadequacies but the worry is that once the work is commenced by the OPW and the gardaí are removed from the station, which will be essential for the refurbishment work to take place, the gardaí will not be returned to it. This petition seeks a commitment from the authorities that will not be the case.
The recent report from the Garda Inspectorate under chief inspector, Kathleen O'Toole, is worrying because it argues strongly that there should be a maximisation of the number of gardaí available for operational duties. While that is a laudable ambition, it is also code for station closure and is the type of language used by a previous Minister, Michael McDowell, who came to the conclusion that Fitzgibbon and Mountjoy Garda stations should be closed along with a large number of other Garda stations around the country. Fitzgibbon Street Garda station will be refurbished but we do not know what will happen once that is done and I seek a firm commitment that it will be re-opened.
Mountjoy Garda station is inextricably linked with the Department's proposal to close Mountjoy Prison and transfer those prison facilities to Thornton Hall where a site has been obtained for the construction of a new prison. The Garda station is included in the plan for the closure of the prison site. That is a threat to another Garda station. Both stations are in close proximity to each other.
Given the considerable increase in the number of burglaries, gangland crimes and illegal drugs crimes in the north inner city, there is a real fear that services and gardaí will be removed from the area and there is concern about the impact that might have on the local community which is already under a degree of pressure.
I seek a firm commitment that the Garda services will be retained and a guarantee that Fitzgibbon Street Garda station will re-open once the refurbishment work has been completed and that Mountjoy Garda station will not continue to be part of the Mountjoy Prison closure plan.
