Garda Deployment

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 February 2013

Thursday, 7 February 2013

Ceisteanna (146)

Luke 'Ming' Flanagan

Ceist:

146. Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason the Garda Armed Response Unit has been patrolling Dundalk town, County Louth, and suburbs for the past six months or so; his views on the appropriateness of such patrols by the Armed Response Unit; the reason such patrols are not carried out by the Gardaí stationed in Dundalk; if the Armed Response Unit are briefed on community affairs and if they have the same knowledge of community issues as the regular Gardaí stationed in this town; his views on whether this deployment should be reviewed; the way the decision to have the Armed Response Unit patrol Dundalk was arrived at; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6576/13]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

The deployment of Garda resources and personnel is an operational matter for the Garda Commissioner. I am informed by the Garda authorities that the Dundalk area is subject to regular patrols by local uniformed and plain clothes personnel, augmented by the Detective Unit and Community Policing Unit, together with the Divisional Traffic Unit and the Regional Support Unit (RSU) as required. Regional Support Units have been established in each of the five Garda Regions outside of the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR). An RSU, which operates from bases in Dundalk and Ballyshannon Garda Stations, was deployed in the Northern Region in September 2010. Personnel attached to RSUs patrol as regular uniform Gardaí performing the normal policing functions on a daily basis throughout the Region including the Dundalk area.

RSUs are available as a dedicated resource to provide support to other Garda units engaged in frontline policing, including an increased capability to deal with incidents or perform tasks such as checkpoints and searches. They also provide a greatly enhanced capacity to deal with the challenges posed by criminals in the region or criminals who travel into the region to commit crime. RSUs provide An Garda Síochána with a graduated response to critical incidents by supporting frontline officers in a prompt and skilled manner. Their value should be clear to anyone who is familiar with the threats posed by criminals to the community and An Garda Síochána.

Question No. 147 answered with Question No. 17.