Half of rural stations record fewer than 4 incidents daily

OVER 55% of rural garda stations record fewer than four incidents per day.

And a modernisation programme for any small station would cost, on average, €350,000.

A comprehensive Department of Justice expenditure review has identified the closure of Garda stations as part of a series of cost-cutting and revenue generating measures that will save €13.6 million on an annual basis from 2014.

The proposed measures will save €4.2m in 2012 and €8.8m in 2013.

The expenditure review lodged with the Department of Public Expenditure confirms the Department of Justice proposed to save €3.8m per annum from Garda overtime incurred attending court, while the closure of the unspecified amount of rural stations will save €1m per annum.

The report informed Justice Minister Alan Shatter’s decision, announced at the budget, to close 31 Garda stations across the country next year.

The Department of Public Expenditure has confirmed that the Department of Justice’s spend will be 4% down next year to €2.26 billion and has confirmed a further €178m, or 8%, in cuts by 2014.

The Department of Justice review, in an analysis of garda station activity on the Garda PULSE system, has “identified a very low level of activity in a large number of country stations”.

The analysis found that in 2010, 373 of the 656 stations outside the Dublin Metropolitan Region had on average fewer than four PULSE entries daily.

PULSE entries covers the entire spectrum of reported criminal offences to gardaí, from public order to theft to serious crime to reports of road traffic accidents.

Advancing the case for the closure of rural stations, the review states that the maintenance costs of the smaller country stations is €2,500 to €4,000 per annum.

The department states there is scope for the sale of the rural stations, ranging in price from €30,000 to €500,000 with “the majority of properties coming in the lower end of this spectrum”.

In a number of revenue generating measures, the Department of Justice proposed to double the charge to €40 per set of fingerprints for non-crime related matters to increase revenue by €23,000 per annum.

The department also proposed a flat fee of €40 for the Garda Certification of Good Character to the 50,000 people that require it each year. The certificate is currently free and the measure could generate €2m per annum.

The department also proposed to impose a charge of €300 for Garda traffic collision reports — also currently free — which would generate €225,000 per annum. and the supervising of blasting of explosives and escorting of explosives could generate €700,000 per annum.