Vol. 433 No. 1
153 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Justice if, in view of recent events in the Multyfarnham area of County Westmeath, she will give the plans, if any, she has to fill the vacancy of Garda Sergeant at this Garda Station; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
The allocation of Garda manpower to individual areas is a matter for the Garda authorities who make their decisions having regard to ongoing assessments of the policing requirements of those areas. They inform me that the current manpower at Multyfarnham station, which has remained unchanged since 1989, is two gardaí.
The Garda authorities are satisfied that the current strength is adequate to meet the policing needs of Multyfarnham and can be readily augmented by the Divisional/District Service when required — as happened recently to deal with the particular matter to which the Deputy refers. Accordingly, they have no proposals at present to increase the manpower at the station.
