|
Minister for Justice,
Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell):
For policing purposes the
country is divided into six regions, each of which is commanded by a
regional assistant commissioner. The duties of the commissioners are
mainly operational and they are responsible for ensuring the operational
efficiency of their respective region and, in particular, the quality of
operational management exercised by their divisional and district
officers. Each region is divided into divisions commanded by a chief
superintendent, and each division is then divided into districts
commanded by a superintendent, assisted by a number of inspectors. Garda
divisions do not necessarily correspond to county boundaries.
The Dublin metropolitan region, DMR, is made up of the six Garda
divisions of DMR south central, DMR north central, DMR south, DMR north,
DMR west and DMR east. The Dublin metropolitan region extends into parts
of counties Wicklow and Kildare. In this regard, the Garda stations in
Bray, Greystones and Enniskerry, while within the County of Wicklow,
form part of the DMR east region. Leixlip Garda station, which lies
within the Kildare county boundary, forms part of the DMR west region.
Any proposal to alter the boundaries of any Garda region is in the first
instance a matter for the Garda Commissioner. Under section 22 of the
Garda Síochána Act 2005, any such proposal must be contained in a draft
policing plan for the following year which must be submitted to the
Minister for approval. I will carefully consider any such proposal that
the Commissioner may submit to me, although I understand that the
Commissioner currently has no plans to alter the divisional boundaries
within the DMR.
Mr. Cuffe: The issue is that the policing districts bear little
relationship to local authority areas, Dáil constituencies, HSE health
areas or postal districts. This makes it difficult to put a meaningful
interpretation on statistics from the Garda Síochána. If the statistics
are difficult to interpret, it will make for poor policing and poor
analysis of data. Will the Minister bring his influence to bear to
introduce co-ordination between the various offices of State that
produce statistics in this regard? It is difficult enough to find one’s
way through the various definitions of crime, which seem not to have
been updated for the past 100 years or so, but to use districts that
bear no relation to the kinds of areas that the Central Statistics
Office, the Health Service Executive, local authorities or other
agencies use renders it a complete mess when one tries to put a
meaningful construct on such data. Can the Minister use his influence to
bring some meaningful co-ordination of the kinds of areas used by him
and his colleagues at the Cabinet table?
Mr. McDowell: Postal districts and the organisation of the postal
service have little to do with crime.
Mr. Cuffe: I am not suggesting that.
Mr. Howlin: People can receive their summons on time.
Mr. McDowell: I would love to see the people of Dublin 6W
demanding to be moved back to Dublin 6 if they went to a different Garda
station. I know that the Deputy is not seriously suggesting that we
should structure policing around postal districts.
Mr. Cuffe: Insurance companies do it that way.
Mr. McDowell: I accept the point that, as part of general reform
of the Garda Síochána, the districts will have to be reviewed in one
respect since we are now establishing local policing committees. If they
are to function reasonably, they should correspond with understandable
local authority boundaries, and that issue will be examined. Regarding
the Dublin area, the facts say that Enniskerry is regarded as an adjunct
of Dublin, although it is in the same Garda district as Shillelagh in
lower County Wicklow, but that is not a significant issue for policing.
As PULSE develops, it is becoming easier to produce very specific
figures.
I also stress that, even if one operates by counties for statistics on
offences, one finds that offenders do not look to see whether they are
operating in South Dublin, Dún Laoghaire, Fingal or wherever. They carry
out their functions as it suits them. Therefore, the concept of a
greater Dublin policing area such as the Dublin metropolitan region is
not suspect.
I put it to the Minister
that we need greater co-ordination of data. I have heard anecdotes about
bodies being pushed from one side of a river or canal to another to try
to get a Garda division off the hook. When insurance companies charge
different premia depending on one’s postal district, that suggests a
need for meaningful districts and areas allowing us to consider health
and policing records and other data.
I am glad the Minister stated in his reply that there may well be a
review of such areas, and I ask that he and his colleagues in Cabinet
put their heads together to co-ordinate the various areas that they use.
The confusion, overlap and disparity between them make it very difficult
to formulate meaningful policies based on data produced by the Central
Statistics Office or used by individual Departments. It illustrates the
wider difficulty and danger in Departments’ co-ordination. If the
Minister could address the Garda policing districts, that would be a
step in the right direction.
Mr. McDowell: I will make a point to the Deputy concerning an
area near enough to home for him. Shankill is not radically different
from Bray. The Dargle River is the boundary between one part of Bray and
Little Bray and lower Shankill, but they are not radically different
when it comes to establishing a Garda command-and-control structure. To
suggest otherwise places one at the margins of reality.
I do not accept the anecdote, which I know that the Deputy has told with
his tongue in his cheek, and I will not huff and puff about it.
Mr. F. McGrath: The Minister would never do that.
Mr. McDowell: I do not accept the proposition that any garda
would push a body into an adjoining Garda district or float it across a
river to get another force to deal with the issue.
Mr. Cuffe: Regarding the Dargle River, issues relating to my part
of the constituency concern the superintendent in Bray who may not be as
aware of issues in the Dún Laoghaire area.
|
CiaranCuffe.com