Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I thank the Deputy for his question. Obviously, I agree with him about Garda visibility. That is not happening by accident; it is happening because we are getting the number in An Garda Síochána up and a decision has been made by Government, and implemented by the Commissioner, to have high-visibility policing. I am very pleased to hear there is apparent visibility of gardaí in Rathcoole and Saggart. As I said to Deputy Murphy, the plan is to try to roll it out throughout the country.
The Deputy also mentioned youth diversion programmes. In fact, there is a great link between An Garda Síochána and youth diversion programmes. One of the reasons An Garda Síochána is so popular in this country is that it is not regarded or viewed as a law-enforcement agency. It is part of the community. We now have youth diversion programmes throughout the country. The gardaí play a huge role in them and are hugely supportive of them. We are never going to solve issues in terms of young people involved in crime by incarcerating them or just bringing them through the criminal justice system. We have to try to divert them as otherwise we are failing in our responsibility to them.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-31T01:00:51+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-21