Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 6 Apr 1995

Vol. 142 No. 15

Adjournment Matter. - Croom (Limerick) Policing Arrangements.

Ms Kelly

I will outline briefly why I raised this matter on the Adjournment. Croom is 11 miles outside Limerick city on the N20 national primary route to Cork. It is a small town but one with an increasing hinterland community, many of whom work in Limerick city. Over the years, therefore, there has been quite a substantial increase in the number of commuter residents. Many well to do people have started to live in the Croom area.

There is a Garda station in Croom which is manned by a sergeant and another garda. However, frequently, particularly at night, there is no garda presence in the town. The town is supervised by gardaí operating out of Askeaton, County Limerick. Askeaton is 20 miles away cross-country on winding narrow roads. The Askeaton gardaí also cover an area some 15 miles west, almost reaching Glen on the Kerry border. At any given time the Garda car can be on patrol and as far away from Croom as Glen, which is nearly an hour's drive.

The easy accessibility of the national primary road means that criminals have been known to use this as an escape route. It also can be said that a criminal gang operating out of Cork can be safely back in Cork city before the County Limerick Garda car has reached the scene of the crime. This has led many residents in the area to feel that they are not getting Garda protection at night. I have spoken to members of the Garda who work in the area. They feel it would be in the best interests of the town and the community in the hinterland if they were brought under the jurisdiction of one of the Garda stations in Limerick city, either Henry Street or Roxboro. A Garda car could them cover it in less than a quarter of an hour.

It is for this reason I have put down this motion and it was at the suggestion of the one of the gardaí working in the area who believes that better cover could be given. This discussion arose out of a move by some people in the locality to set up Community Alert. The gardaí do not believe that Community Alert would be of any great assistance if there was not adequate Garda car cover. This can only be done if the jurisdiction is switched from Askeaton to Limerick. I do not mean to downgrade Askeaton but there may be a compensatory allocation of areas. Limerick may cover an area that would be more appropriately covered by Askeaton.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications (Mr. Stagg)

I thank Senator Kelly for raising this matter and I appreciate the fact that, while she no longer lives in the village of Croom, she is a native and demonstrates her continuing interest in the welfare of the people of the area.

I would like to begin by outlining the present policing arrangements for the Croom area. The current Garda strength at Croom Garda station is one sergeant and two gardaí. The station is open to the public between the hours of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m, and 1.45 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Outside of these hours callers to the station may avail of the direct communications link which will put them in direct contact with a garda at the district headquarters in Askeaton. There is an official motorcycle attached to Croom which is used to patrol the area. This is augmented by the patrol cars attached to Askeaton and Rathkeale stations.

The crime figures for the past three years for the Croom sub-district have remained relatively unchanged. In fact, the crime detection rate in the sub-district in 1992 was almost 17 per cent compared to almost 57 per cent last year — a 40 per cent increase in the detection rate which is an excellent achievement by the gardaí concerned and I want to congratulate them for that work. Provisional figures for the first two months of this year for the Croom sub-district show that two crimes have been committed and both have been detected by the gardaí. This would certainly indicate that the area is not a hot bed of crime.

The Garda authorities are satisfied that the present policing arrangements for the Croom area are adequate to meet the policing needs of the area. The Garda authorities also inform me that they have no plans to transfer the Garda responsibility for the Croom area to Limerick city and the Minister must be guided by them and their professional judgment in the matter. I will bring to the attention of the Garda authorities the points raised by the Senator and see if the existing co-ordination between the city and the county can be improved to meet the point the Senator has made.

The Seanad adjourned at 4.10 p.m. until 12 noon on Wednesday, 26 April 1995.