I am glad to get the opportunity to speak about An Garda Síochána today. I thank it for its great work in Kerry. It is a massive county and the distances are very great around all the peninsulas and everything. We have to thank it especially for making progress in connection with the murder of Michael Gaine. We welcome this and hope that it continues to bring this to the conclusion desired by many people because Michael Gaine was loved and appreciated first of all by his own family but also by the vast number of friends he had. It upset the whole county when this tragic episode took place around 12 months ago. It was very regretable that Garda stations like in Lauragh and Sneem do not have a Garda presence all the time. This is not helping the elimination of drugs. We know that there are drugs are coming into the small harbours and piers. There is no proper monitoring of what is going on along the bay. There are drugs coming in every day. They are visible in every town, village and community now. They are coming from somewhere and more needs to be done to stop this. What is also happening now is that there are people renting houses around our local areas. Previously, the local garda knew who every one of these people were, wherever they came in from and whoever they were. As soon as they landed, the garda usually visited them to see who they were and what they were at. That is not happening now. I see fellows - not in our locality, where I know a lot of people - in parishes local to me and we do not know who they are. No one seems to know what they are doing. You will not see some of them all day. They are inside in houses. You might not see them for a week. We do not know what they are doing. Certainly, it is not the Ireland that we used to know previously. It is not that I want to know everyone's business or anything like that. That is not the point. There are things happening. I do not think the Garda has the ability now to follow these people up before they do untold damage, carry out robberies, or bring in drugs or whatever. We do not know what these people are doing. There needs to be more command over people from different countries who come in. We do not know what they are doing or where they came from, or if they have ever been vetted. We do not really know for sure what is happening around us.

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