An Garda Síochána: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-13
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Niall Blaney (FF), Agricultural Panel

I thank colleagues for bringing forward this motion. It is a very extensive and welcome motion. Like Senator McDowell, I too was a backbencher back in the late 2000s when we went through the Celtic tiger. It was a time when banks took decisions in this country that were not subject to policy we introduced, and they wrecked the economy. I was one of those backbenchers who took decisions that one of my colleagues alluded to a while ago. We took hard decisions, such as closing Templemore Garda College in 2008 to 2014. As a representative back in those days, along with 59 of my colleagues who lost their seats, we made those decisions knowing it would threaten our seats, but our policy was country first. That is part of the reason that we, as a party, are back today as the largest party in the State. We must show a little bit of respect to those people who took those decisions because that was heavy lifting. Sometimes, as politicians, that must be done in order to move forward. Thankfully, as a result of those tough decisions that were taken, Fine Gael was in a position to move things on, and it did. We continue on that road today.
A number of things have been alluded to. I am particularly pleased that during the tenure of the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, and his Fine Gael colleague, Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, along with the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, the mood within An Garda Síochána has transformed. It is not that long ago that we had a Garda Commissioner whereby the mood was different. That recruitment and approach have changed the mood in An Garda Síochána.
It has to be commended on that. Moreover, as others have said, the presence of An Garda Síochána over the past year and more on our streets and in our rural areas has been welcome. This response says it all about the mood between Government, the Commissioner and An Garda Síochána. We can have all the numbers we want, but if we do not have relations right and structures working properly, it is not going to be a good day for the policing of our country.
I come from a county along the border with Northern Ireland. Recently, I have been having discussions with gardaí on the beat and senior gardaí in Donegal. We are probably in an unusual situation, given over the years there was so much heavy policing in the Border, whether it be in Northern Ireland or the Border region. The situation now is that resources in Northern Ireland are so low that the PSNI is asking colleagues from the Border counties to take on investigation of cross-Border crime because it does not have the resources. Some of those who come in here and tell us how to run the police services have the opportunity in Northern Ireland and they are not stepping up. However, there are real issues on the ground, particularly in the Border counties. Senator Joe O'Reilly raised this as well. There are much greater issues now with cross-Border crime but also with the cross-Border drug trade, whether that be on the ground, by air and on the coast. It is a very serious problem now. If ever there was a greater need to increase numbers again on the Border, it is now. Gardaí are dealing with a colossal amount of work. We really need a reinvestigation of our numbers on the Border and the workload they are carrying.
Finally, to be more parochial, our county town is Lifford but our principal town is Letterkenny. We have a Garda station with 140 to 150 gardaí and it is no longer fit for purpose. I ask the Minister of State to start examining their needs. Whether it be through a new station or an extension, the process needs to start. I would appreciate if he could take a look at that. I thank him for his time.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:56+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-13