Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
737. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the location to which the gardaí attached to Garda stations (details supplied) in County Mayo which are proposed to be closed will be re-stationed; if there will be a Garda car available to these gardaí to police the areas losing a Garda station at the very least during the current opening hours of the said Garda stations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57843/12]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that the Commissioner's Policing Plan for 2013, which I laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas on 5 December 2012, sets out details of the closure of 100 Garda stations throughout the country, the future opening hours of other stations and a number of District amalgamations. It is important to remember that while some Garda stations are listed for revised opening hours from 24-hour stations, they will remain as functioning Garda stations on a 24-hour basis. The full list of these details, including the allocation of personnel, is available in the policing plan which is available in the Oireachtas Library, on my Department's website and on the Garda website.
Decisions in relation to the provision and deployment of Garda transport are matters for the Garda Commissioner and the local Divisional Officer, who may allocate vehicles between stations as required by operational circumstances. When allocating vehicles, the operational requirements of the Mayo Division will be considered within the overall operational requirements of the organisation.
Specifically in relation to Mayo, the following table outlines the re-allocation of gardaí and alternative policing arrangements to be put in place following the closure of the six (6) stations in the Division;
|
Station |
Ballycastle |
Ballyglass |
Ballyvary |
Blacksod |
Hollymount |
Laherdaun |
|
Strength |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
Transferred to: |
Killala |
- |
Castlebar |
- |
Ballinrobe |
Crossmolina |
|
Distance to nearest station |
14km |
12km |
11km |
20km |
10km |
9km |
|
Cover provided by: |
Killala and Ballina |
Balla and Castlebar |
Balla |
Belmullet |
Claremorris |
Crossmolina |
A total of four gardaí will be re-stationed as a result of the above station closures. There are no gardaí attached to Ballyglass and Blacksod Garda stations.
An Garda Síochána will maintain the policing service provided to communities and any restructuring of the Garda station network will only occur to deliver greater efficiencies in the deployment of personnel and other resources within each Division. The priority is to ensure that an effective and professional policing service is provided to all communities throughout the country.
