A Garda public transport unit

Sir, – Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that any decision for a dedicated Garda public transport unit was a decision for Garda Commissioner Drew Harris (News, August 17th). This is a preposterous statement. Violence on our public transport is a well-documented societal problem. It is not a Garda resourcing problem. It has never been the case that a Garda Commissioner makes decisions that affect society. Such decisions come from the Government, on behalf of the people.

Framing this issue in this way suggests a lack of judgment on the part of the Tánaiste in particular; but more widely it ties in with an obvious strategy by Government to outsource its responsibilities to consultancy firms, Dáil commissions and committees, citizens’ assemblies and State agencies, rather than take upon themselves the responsibility for which they were elected.

In this instance, the Department of Justice is horrendously out of touch with a population who dread public transport because of the anti-social and violence problems that now characterise it.

It has passed the buck over to the Garda Commissioner and shirked its responsibility to the people.

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What an an outrageous stance to take on this potent and serious issue pertaining to law and order and the safety of ordinary people trying to go about their daily lives. – Yours, etc,

KEVIN NOLAN,

Rathfarnham,

Dublin 16.