Ceisteanna ó na Comhaltaí Eile - Other Members’ Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-06
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Mattie McGrath (IND), Tipperary South

When will the Government have a measurable number of gardaí to put into rural towns and counties - I am talking about Tipperary here - and will he commit today to a specific plan to restore Garda numbers to Tipperary? I am not sure about this calling 999. Every person now is being told, and I heard this in my meeting yesterday, to ring 999. There is no replacement for connectivity with the local Garda, the garda on the beat and community gardaí. I salute Garda Fiona Gleeson in Clonmel and her other three colleagues, and Sergeant O'Leary in the community policing section. That is badly needed. They do a great job but they do not have enough of them. They are pulled off the community unit every other time there is an issue and shortages. An amount of time is wasted in courts and on other situations that they should not be dealing with. We have to move on here and get the gardaí out on the beat meeting the people and standing with the people, and they will stand with the gardaí. However, at the moment we do not have the supports and there is antisocial behaviour. Sulky races are another huge problem. There was a march about it on Saturday in Clonmel. It is a huge problem. We must have more resources for our gardaí.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-06/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-06