Garda stations may be shut

The Government is to consider closing some of Dublin's 24-hour Garda stations to free up personnel for street patrols.

The Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, said a steering group working under the Strategic Management Initiative (SMI) is expected to recommend that some of Dublin's 44 24-hour stations should be closed overnight. The group's report would be presented to the Government soon.

"When you have a city the size of Dublin you would have to ask is there a better way of doing things," he said. "It is part of looking at all aspects of An Garda Síochána with a view to getting as many people on the streets as possible."

Many European cities, such as Cologne and Helsinki, had decided to take similar steps and was time to look elsewhere in Europe for best practice on the issue. Every post in a Garda station needed an average of just over five officers to man it on a full-time basis. If 24-hour stations closed for one of its three shifts during any 24-hour period it would free up a significant amount of officers for more visible and valuable street work.

Mr Byrne said he was in favour of reviewing the retirement age for members of the force at 57, saying 60 might be more suitable.

He added that he believed the force will be increased to 14,000, as promised by the Government.

Meanwhile, Budget cuts and inadequate levels of manpower have reduced the Garda to a "fire brigade" service where reaction times to emergencies are getting slower and general policing regressing, according to the GRA president, Mr Michael Kirby.

He criticised the Government for adopting a "hair-shirt" policy on Garda resourcing. Expenditure on the force had been cut at a time when gardaí are being forced to spend much of their time on administration at the expense of fighting crime, particularly public order offences.

Mr Kirby told delegates the greatest concern amongst gardaí was the ongoing severe cutbacks, which were now "cutting policing to the bone". The situation was so serious that cutbacks were putting the public, and members of the force at risk.

It was unacceptable, Mr Kirby said, that gardaí were being refused annual leave at weekends because manpower was short.

Some sub-districts often had no policing presence because officers were needed in larger urban centres and officers were frequently alone in stations leaving them vulnerable to attack and malicious allegations from members of the public.