THE GARDA Inspectorate has not considered the closure of small rural Garda stations, Kathleen O'Toole, chief inspector, has said.
Ms O'Toole said the inspectorate was looking at how best to allocate human resources. However, rationalisation or the provision of centres of Garda excellence had not been considered.
"The bottom line is people in the community that we talk to are looking for greater police visibility. They want to see people out there on patrols and they want to see them on walking patrols and on bicycles."
She said that as populations were growing, the challenges facing the Garda were becoming more significant.
"This is a police service that's rooted in community service. We can't lose sight of the real important aspect of policing, and that's policing on the ground, in the community, uniformed policing, uniformed visibility."
Ms O'Toole was a guest speaker at a breakfast organised by the Midlands Gateway Chamber in Athlone, where she addressed local business people on the importance of community policing.
She emphasised the commitment of the Garda and the inspectorate to community policing, highlighting how in the Athlone area Supt Aidan Glacken had increased resources for community policing threefold in the last three years.
She also said policing only worked when the community "steps up and works in concert with the police. It's a two-way street."
She was commenting on the inaugural conference on Neighbourhood Watch which took place in Athlone last week, echoing comments made by President Mary McAleese who also emphasised the role of the public in working with gardaí.
Ms O'Toole agreed that gardaí spend an inordinate amount of time in court.
While this work was important in presenting cases effectively, gardaí needed to be out on the street.