Senior Gardaí, PSNI officers to discuss rural policing challenges with Justice Committee

The meeting at 9 a.m. in Committee Room 2 can be viewed live here and on Android and Apple devices using the Houses of the Oireachtas app.

The scheduled witnesses are

• Garda Assistant Commissioner Patrick Leahy, responsible for the Dublin Metropolitan Region; 
• Garda Assistant Commissioner Michael Finn, responsible for the South Eastern Region encompassing Carlow, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Waterford and Wexford; and 
• PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd, who oversees 11 Policing Districts across Northern Ireland. 

“I look forward to the attendance of senior officers of both An Garda Síochana and the PSNI before the Oireachtas Justice Committee to address the important issues of community policing and rural crime. Their engagement will allow us to address these pressing matters on an all-island basis,” said Committee Chairman Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD.

“It is most welcome, and a sign of how much progress we have made on this island since the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, that ACC Alan Todd is part of our discussions,” Deputy Ó Caoláin said. “His involvement reflects the progress made towards greater all-Ireland cooperation that is more and more becoming an accepted part of life on this island – a new normalcy to be appreciated and built upon.

“An Garda Síochána and the PSNI face many common challenges in providing a police service in villages and rural communities where, in many cases, the nearest police stations have been closed and officers may have to balance wider patrolling responsibilities with deskbound duties,” Deputy Ó Caoláin said. “The Committee hopes to identify recommendations for improving the scope, resourcing and effectiveness of community and rural policing by drawing on police experiences from all parts of Ireland and in their shared address of cross-border crime.”