Donegal South West TD, Pearse Doherty will debate the issue of Garda resources in rural Donegal with Minister for Justice Alan Shatter in a Topical Issue Debate in the Dáil today at 2.30pm.
Speaking in advance of the debate Deputy Pearse Doherty said it is becoming increasingly clear that the Gardaí in Donegal are inadequately resourced to respond to reports of crime.
He said people in rural communities across the County are living in fear, with incidents of crime and anti social behaviour on the increase.
“The recent incident in Kincasslagh, whereby it took the Gardaí over two hours to respond to an act of serious vandalism where a car was set alight, shows just how thin the resources are on the ground.
“Unfortunately this is not an isolated example – people in border and rural areas are reporting similar concerns with Gardaí response times.
“The threat of the possible removal of the Garda District Headquarters in west Donegal further heightens the concern felt by locals and highlights just how out of touch certain Department officials are with the policing needs of rural communities.
“The Minister for Justice needs to recognise that the closure of rural Garda Stations and the lack of adequate Garda resources is having a massive detrimental impact on the effective policing of local communities. He needs to step up to the mark and address the very real concerns felt by people on the ground,” he said.
Tags: