Denis Naughten
Ceist:54 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the proposals he has to review the current Garda districts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28071/03]
Other Questions. - Garda Stations.
As I have indicated in responses to previous questions on this issue, the revision of district and divisional boundaries is being considered as part of a major ongoing review of Garda organisational structures under the strategic management initiative programme of modernisation. The review includes criteria for the justification of Garda districts which if accepted and implemented could have implications for the number of Garda districts.
I am informed that the Garda SMI implementation steering group is in the process of finalising a report which will be forwarded to me over the coming weeks. I will give careful consideration to all the steering group's recommendations.
The issue of Garda district boundaries also arises in the context of the national spatial strategy. The current boundaries are not fully geographically aligned with those of other agencies such as health boards and local government. This potentially creates a barrier to the multidisciplinary approach to service provision required in the implementation of the national spatial strategy. It also creates a problem for the proposals I am bringing under the Garda Síochána legislation to allow for interaction between local authorities and local gardaí. If gardaí span a number of local authority areas because of a non-conformity of districts, there will be difficulties with the issue. The national spatial strategy would seem, therefore, to offer an opportunity to review and make necessary revision to the organisational boundaries of the Garda Síochána which date back to the 1920s.
The Garda authorities have been considering the PricewaterhouseCoopers report for over two and a half years. Is it acceptable that it is taking that length of time? Does the Minister think it acceptable to make public comments on the report without having received the final report? The report's proposals threaten the viability of rural Garda stations. We know that many of the rural Garda stations are already closed in all but name. Is it not the case that the Office of Public Works for which the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Parlon, has responsibility has already carried out a valuation on some of these rural Garda stations?
The SMI process is one in which there has been an undertaking to involve the representative associations and to move on the basis of a partnership approach. It is only now that the Garda is in a position to come to me with the report of the steering group. The Deputy may say that it has taken two and a half years but a fundamental change is being contemplated. If the participants in the process have regarded it as necessary to spend two and a half years studying it and working out the implications, I hope the time has been well spent because the work they have been doing has been serious.
The Deputy raised the issue of the allocation of resources and the implications for rural Garda stations. I do not want to comment in detail on this, and I have not made any detailed comment on it despite what The Irish Times headline may suggest.
What about the Irish Independent headline?
I have not commented in detail on the matter.
Is Tom Brady's report inaccurate?
I know what comments I have made. I have not made detailed comments on the issue because I am waiting to see the steering group's report. Resources will have to be allocated to the Garda Síochána and focused in a manner which reflects 21st century conditions and not the inheritance of the RIC from the 20th century. Undoubtedly, there will have to be change. It will not, however – I emphasise this – mean a depopulation by the Garda of areas which are vulnerable, nor will it entail an attitude that urban areas are given priority over rural areas.
I am sure the present pattern of Garda stations in urban areas will also be the subject of review. In many areas of the country, as the Deputy pointed out, Garda station operating hours have been reduced to a few hours a week.
A few hours a month.
Sometimes, a few hours a month. There is a skeleton service there already. Whether it makes sense to maintain those institutions and to keep the roof on them and spend Office of Public Works money keeping them for such short periods is a question which will, doubtless, be addressed in the SMI process.
We live in a world of motor cars. In some areas of our cities a number of Garda stations can be found within a quarter or half a mile of each other and this must be considered. In my constituency, within the boundary of the canal, there are three Garda stations, one in Pearse Street, one in Harcourt Terrace and one in Kevin Street. Garda headquarters are in Harcourt Square. The centre point could hardly be ten minutes walk from any of them. I am sure there are some areas in the Deputy's constituency which would consider that indefensible.
If the Minister has not made any public comment on this matter, is it true that he has not stated that he has any plans to shut down rural Garda stations? I would like to ask about Garda matters in my constituency. If the Garda division of Roscommon-Galway East is abolished and a new division of Roscommon-Sligo is created, a new Garda station will have to be built in south Roscommon within half a mile of the existing Garda station in Athlone. Would such a development not contradict what the Minister has said?
I am not the chief of police. The Commissioner of the Garda Síochána is the chief of police in the State. I will rely on his advice to the Government on the proper allocation of resources. I have absolute confidence in his judgment on this issue. A Deputy asked me about newspaper reports in which I denied that I plan to close down rural Garda stations. I have no such plans. As I said to the Deputy, I have come to no fixed view. I will not make a comment until I see the outcome of this process.
The Minister did not secure the future of such Garda stations with his comments some moments ago.
It is truthful to say that I have no such plans, because no such proposal has been made to me. When I encounter such a proposal, I will consider it in detail and come to a view. I will accept the advice of the Garda Commissioner on the matter.
The Minister has not given a guarantee.
I do not doubt that if there are plans to reconfigure Garda districts in the Deputy's local area, it will be done in a way that does not produce needless duplication of Garda resources, matching each other over a line on a map.
That means that one cannot make divisions along geographic lines. It is physically impossible.
Any new construction will take place in a manner which is economical with the public's resources.
There are 15 miles between two Garda district headquarters.
What about urban areas?