Taoiseach yet to speak to Commissioner about increasing Garda numbers across country

The Taoiseach has yet to speak with the Garda Commissioner about staffing levels in Cork but has promised that numbers will increase across the country.

The Dáil has heard that personal thefts in Cork jumped by 90% between January and September while assaults causing harm in the same period increased by 16%.

Sinn Féin's Jonathan O'Brien said this is partly down to a lack of garda resources and claimed the people of Cork city are not getting the policing service they deserve. He said:

People are entitled to feel safe regardless of whether they are from Ballsbridge or Knocknaheaney, Foxrock or Mayfield. All we are asking for in Cork is a fair allocation of resources

Following up on calls he made last week asking Leo Varadkar to raise the lack of resources and members on patrol in Cork city with Commissioner Drew Harris, Mr O'Brien was told that this meeting had not yet happened.

Mr Varadkar said he was aware that the Garda Representative Association (GRA) has highlighted the need for additional garda resources in Cork, but the he said the organisation has also called for extra resources on the Border, in Donegal and in Dublin.

"That indicates to me that we need more and better-equipped gardaí in all parts of the country, not just in Cork. That is precisely what we are doing," said the Taoiseach, adding that the budget for next year will be nearly €1.9 billion.

"The guarantee I can give to people in Cork and all other parts of the country is that they will continue to see an increase in the number of gardaí in communities not just because we are recruiting additional gardaí, but also because we are equipping them better and reforming the Garda service such that there are fewer chiefs, less management and administration and more gardaí on the beat or in cars, available for the public to see them, which is what the public wants," he said.

Mr O'Brien also raised what he described as an attempted "smash and grab" organised online which saw youths running up and down St Patrick's Street in the city with their faces covered last week.

"Only for the quick action of the gardai, untold damage could have been caused to businesses," he said.

The Taoiseach also praised the swift response of the gardaí which he said had prevented rioting and criminal damage in Cork.