Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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4. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to support policing in rural communities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34856/24]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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According to an Irish Examiner-IPSOS poll that was published last week, 70% of people who live in rural Ireland do not believe that there is a visible Garda presence in their areas. Members of the public believe that improved visibility can deter crime. How does the Government propose to increase visible rural policing?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Naughten for this very important question, which relates to supporting policing in our rural communities. Community safety is a top priority for my Department. Everyone has the right to be safe and feel safe in their community, and rural Ireland is no exception in that regard. Our approach to community safety is a whole-of-government one. Enhancing rural safety includes everything from having more visible gardaí in the community to providing safe public spaces and amenities. That is why we are bringing the relevant social service providers, including An Garda Síochána together with the community in a collaborative manner, by focusing on the concerns identified by the local community itself.

Three pilot local community safety partnerships, LCSP, have been running since 2021, including one in Longford, and each has published a local community safety plan, available on the respective local authority websites. Funding was provided to the Longford LCSP pilot in 2022 through the community safety innovation fund for the Cornerstone project, which sought to implement a number of safety initiatives in the area that were based on extensive community consultation.

Nobody understands the safety concerns of a community better than the people who live in that community. The purpose of the community safety plan is to allow each community to identity the safety concerns that are relevant to their locality and to agree on collective actions to solve those issues. I am hopeful that many communities will start to see LCSPs established in their areas over the coming weeks. Assessment panels for the role of chairperson in a number of local authority areas are taking place currently. Nominations for the first chairpersons are under consideration.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The move regarding the LCSPs is positive. I welcome it. When the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, came before the justice committee last year, he pointed out that rural policing is done with the active support of local communities. We can only have the active support of those communities if we have gardaí engaging with them. The difficulty is that if people in rural areas throughout the country are asked who their local garda is or who would they contact in the local Garda station, which may be located may be 20 or 30 miles away, no name will come to mind for many of them. I have raised this issue with the Minister of State previously. In 2019, the Joint Committee on Justice examined the issue of rural policing and made a recommendation that there should be a designated officer assigned as the initial point of contact in each rural community. Has any progress been made in this regard?

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge that we do not have as many gardaí as we need, but significant efforts are being made to address this. We have had a very large increase in the number of recruits coming through Templemore.

Regarding safety in rural Ireland, the national rural safety forum was established in 2019. In 2022, we published the national rural safety plan. Yesterday, I met the deputy president of the IFA, Alice Doyle, and the assistant Garda commissioner, Paula Hilman, to discuss how we can reinvigorate the national rural safety forum and implement its proposals. This forum is jointly chaired by the IFA and An Garda Síochána and has a very broad membership.

Regarding designating gardaí as points of contact, it is a matter for the Garda Commissioner as to how he deploys gardaí and what roles he wants to give them. However, I will convey the Deputy's concerns to the Commissioner.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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There are more gardaí going through Templemore and more are being recruited. That is very positive. However, the reality is that they are not coming to Roscommon, Longford or Mayo. We can designate gardaí all we like, but they are not there. In addition, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is aware of cases where gardaí are stationed in far-flung parts of the country. They cannot get back to anywhere near County Roscommon or counties in the midlands. As a result, gardaí are being forced out of the force because there is no clear mechanism for transfers. All of the new recruits are being deployed to the major urban centres. This is leaving the rural force under-resourced, with no access to the new gardaí who are being recruited.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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There is no question that there is a challenge regarding the number of gardaí, but that arose out of the situation during Covid when recruitment was paused. We are now addressing the situation by significantly increasing recruitment through Templemore. Up to the end of June of this year, 581 gardaí were assigned to the Mayo, Roscommon, Longford division and 599 were assigned to the Galway division.

The Deputy will see an increase in the number of members of An Garda Síochána over the coming years as that recruitment continues and those gardaí are deployed.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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They are not coming to Roscommon or Galway.