I thank Deputy Kelly for bringing forward this motion. I listened to him on the radio this morning when I was on my way in and I was in full agreement with him that the further you move away from Leinster House, the fewer gardaí you will see. High-visibility policing is effective. I have noticed an increase in the visibility of gardaí on the beat in Dublin city and that is to be welcomed. However, as you move out from the city, you do not see anywhere near the same numbers of gardaí on the streets. When you get to areas like mine in Dublin Mid-West, that visibility is even less. In fact, in Dublin metropolitan region west, which covers Clondalkin, Lucan, Ronanstown and Rathcoole Garda stations, there are fewer gardaí today than there were in 2024. That is despite a huge increase in population in the area, with the building of Clonburris and the Adamstown strategic development zone. On 31 December 2024, there were 754 gardaí assigned to my area. As of February 2026, last month, that had dropped to 742. Therefore, despite the Minister's rhetoric that he was to increase Garda numbers, the reality is that in areas like mine, things are going backwards. There has actually been a reduction. The public knows that the high visibility of gardaí in areas works to deter and detect criminal activity. So-called antisocial behaviour, which is the bane of many a community, decreases simply by having a Garda presence in an area. I will give an example of how effective it can be. Last year, I was inundated by residents from a particular part of my constituency contacting me. They feared for their safety and that of their children. The area was under siege. Gangs had repeatedly committed violent acts of intimidation and had done criminal damage. I received countless emails and phone calls and many people visited my constituency office in fear. Residents told me they were receiving death threats. They were crying out for additional Garda resources. At the time, I raised this directly with the Minister and the Garda Commissioner, and I raised it at the justice committee. Because of the pressure put on me by members of my community, the superintendent was able to allocate a four-garda team for the area. It was like someone had turned off a switch. Overnight I stopped getting as many phone calls to my office. Residents were able to get on with their lives, start living in safety again and breathe. I know this does not address the underlying issues that cause all this behaviour in the first place, but it allowed my community to get on with daily life. I thank the Garda, including the superintendent, and most of all the members of my community who contacted me about this matter. The four-garda team was just a temporary measure, however. The gardaí are due to be redeployed very soon for another operation, so I imagine I will be contacting the Minister again and calling for the retention of the team in the area.

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