An Garda Síochána: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-13 ============================================================ Maria Byrne (FG), Agricultural Panel I thank the Minister of State for coming to discuss this important issue. I compliment my colleagues, Senators Gallagher and O'Donovan, along with everyone else who contributed to this all-important motion. As the Minister of State is aware, I do a lot of work in the area of Ballinacurra in County Limerick where, every day, the gardaí are on duty along with the staff based in the school and the community centre. The Minister of State will be coming to visit us there in the very near future. I compliment An Garda Síochána for the Trojan work its members do because there is a high level of criminality in the area. There is everything from drug dealing to people in protective custody. There is a lot going on in the area. However, the gardaí go out there and put themselves on the front line every day alongside the staff working in the community centre. That needs to be acknowledged. The thrust of this motion is about protecting the gardaí who are out there putting their lives at risk. There has been reference made to the 90 gardaí who have lost their lives in the line of duty. The fact is that gardaí are out there going above and beyond their call of duty on a daily basis. The motion is talking about a specific driving licence and also about gardaí involved in a chase being protected. It is about putting greater supports in place to support An Garda Síochána members in their work. Senator Ryan referred to the community access support teams, CAST, project in Limerick and the gardaí involved in running that project. I believe that is something that should be expanded out to other areas in Ireland. I am sure the Minister of State is looking at that in terms of the Department. I want to pay tribute to the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, the current Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, and the former Minister for justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, for their different strengths and the different ways they have brought in changes within the Department by working with An Garda Síochána, the powers they have invested in An Garda Síochána and creating those greater strengths going forward. I listened to Senators Gallagher and O'Donovan, as former members of the force, about the work they carried out on a daily basis. I have worked alongside gardaí and have been in regular contact with them, including gardaí from Roxboro Road Garda Station and Henry Street Garda Station. I recently saw that gardaí were outside Moyross working with older people and advising them around security and how to protect themselves. They meet with residents' associations. The job of a garda has expanded over many years. Many of them are out working with youth groups, playing soccer and sport with them. That is about building relationships with them, keeping young people in a safe environment and encouraging them to get involved in sport. I believe encouraging young people and having the gardaí playing alongside them is a good way of keeping young people on the straight and narrow. While some do get involved in different areas of criminality, the gardaí are forging more and more relationships with them. That is down to the community policing model. I see that in County Limerick there is a very strong community policing model. I wish to pay compliment to all gardaí, from the chief superintendent down to the new recruit, because they are being encouraged all the time. I pay compliment to all involved in bringing forward this motion. I strongly support it and also support strengthening the hand of An Garda Síochána to give its members greater powers and more resilience in terms of working with groups. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. 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