The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, has repeatedly claimed to be on track to achieving his targeted increase in Garda numbers, however there is certainly no evidence of this in Dublin West.

The Minister has become a Walter Mitty character who believes that if he trots out enough statistics and denies often enough that there is a crime problem, then the problem will simply disappear.

“According to figures I have compiled from the Minister’s replies to Parliamentary Questions, the number of Community Gardai based in Blanchardstown has fallen from 21 in 2001 to 18 in 2006 despite the population explosion taking place in Dublin West” said Deputy Burton.

“There is a similar trend in Tallaght, where the number of Community Gardai has fallen from 24 to 20, while in the Lucan area, the number of Community Gardai based at Ronanstown Garda Station went down from 16 in 2004 to 13 last year”.

“Our citizens don’t feel safe and detection rates are falling. Eighty-five per cent of burglaries, 65 per cent of thefts and 62 per cent of robberies, go undetected. And of the 75 killings where guns are used, between 1998 and 2004, only 12 convictions have been registered.
“Every Garda should be a Community Garda working with the public for the public, but we need a dedicated core of Community Gardai, if we are to give hope back to blighted communities and give them the security and peace they deserve.”