Michael Collins urges more Gardaí, praises community officers

Thank you. We are all asking for more Guards on the ground and more Guards in our community. There is no difference for the few Ministers that I have that I will be asking for the same request for West Cork. We are very fortunate, to be honest, in parts of West Cork, particularly in Balladahub and Scully area, to have a Garda Jonathan McCarthy living and working in our community. That is hugely, hugely valuable. A Garda like Jonathan is an incredible value to your community because they are there, they know who is who, who should and who shouldn't be in the community, who is there for the good and the benefit of people and who is not. That is an unfortunate thing that we have lost throughout this country, the local Garda living in the locality and, as I said, I commend himself and his family for making that decision. The community Garda are essential across the country and Jonathan is well acquainted with local dynamics and he is involved in the local community. He knows which parents or teachers to contact for youth-related issues, which family members or neighbours to approach for elderly concerns and the right individuals to engage for local matters. I believe this model would be highly effective in South Ireland and you cannot, Minister, dictate as to where Garda goes to live, but you can certainly give them incredible support for going to live in a community that they are working in, and there is good term policing around in this country. We are also fortunate, like I am involved in the Garda Youth Awards, just on the outside looking in, to be honest with you, and maybe trying to put forward some young person in the community that needs to be commended. I would also like to commend Garda Damian White and others who have been long associated with the Garda Youth Awards. These awards are excellent for recognising the hard work and enthusiasm that young people have for their community. A lot of people criticise young people, but this is one special time for young people to be acknowledged for the huge works they do in their community. Without dedicated individuals like Garda Damian organising this event, it would be challenging to provide such acknowledgement. This is the unfortunate situation where I find that Garda must be under immense pressure. It is a set-up of bypass centres in rural communities, and there is no extra Garda Youth going to be in these local communities, and they need assistance. It does not matter, it does not matter if it is not bypass centres, regardless of an influx of 40, 50 people coming to a small village of 152 people, regardless if they come from Goline or Donegal, or across the world, there needs to be extra Garda Youth, there needs to be extra manpower, and that is not being accounted for. It is causing great angst and worry in rural communities. They are discussing this, establishing an IPAS into the Skibreen Towns, causing a lot of concerns. In other words, the village of Glyn Gareth is a small tourist village that lacks the infrastructure to accommodate any influx of IPAS users. The village has no resident Garda Youth and limited services. This raises concerns about how these individuals manage their daily needs, and they do genuinely have daily needs, and we need to be concerned about their daily needs. And unfortunately, you know, the services are not being backed up with what your plan is. And I don't know, do you have a great plan, or is it just a kind of a botched job pulled together? But you might keep me aware of my time