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THE GOVERNMENT HAS spent €846,560 to date maintaining closed Garda stations throughout the country.
That works out at an average of €7,000 per property per year. Some 139 Garda stations have closed since 2011, and a number have since been sold.
Direct savings of €556,000 per year have been made through the closure of the stations under the Garda District and Station Rationalisation Programme.
The figures were released in response to parliamentary questions asked by Fianna Fáil TD Colm Keaveney.
Simon Harris, junior minister at the Office of Public Works, wrote to Keaveney telling him it has cost about €7,000 per station per year to cover private security, pest control and other services.
Harris said income generated from the sale of closed Garda stations to date is approximately €2.5 million.
Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald acknowledged that the savings of €556,000 per year are “modest”.
However, she noted: “It is important to recall that the primary objective of the programme was to identify opportunities to introduce strategic reforms to enhance service delivery, increase efficiency and streamline practices within An Garda Síochána.”
Fitzgerald said Garda management had concluded that “resources could be better deployed and more effectively used on the front line” if certain stations, many of which were only open part-time and manned by a single Garda, were closed.
She said the programme “supports the provision of a modern 21st century policing service for both urban and rural areas”.
As a result of the programme, communities have benefited from increased Garda visibility and increased patrolling hours which has enabled An Garda Síochána to deliver an improved policing service to the public.
Fitzgerald said that since 2012 the government has invested over €34 million in new Garda vehicles, with over 640 new vehicles coming on stream in 2015. An additional €46 million has been allocated for new Garda vehicles from 2016-2021.
She noted that 600 new gardaí will be recruited next year, following the recruitment of 550 in 2015.
Crime
Earlier this month, a Garda Inspectorate report criticised the lack of community gardaí, saying too many officers are sitting behind desks.
Changing Policing in Ireland found that around 1,500 extra gardaí could be put on the streets if the force made better use of officers.
Keaveney said the government has “changed the focus” of the supposed goal of the closures from a cost-saving measure to that of better utilising officers.
Many people link the closure of Garda stations, particularly in rural areas, to a rise in crimes such as burglaries – with almost 2,000 extra burglary offences taking place in the first nine months of 2015.
Figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) earlier this month show that 28,407 burglaries and related offences were committed in the first nine months of this year, a 6% increase on the 26,747 recorded during the same period in 2014.
‘Was it worth it?’
Keaveney said the government needs to ask itself “Was it worth it?” to close the stations.
He said many communities have lost peace of mind as a result.
The Galway East TD said that rural areas in particular are being targeted by criminal gangs using sophisticated technology to carry out robberies.
“Preventing crime is what rural Garda stations were about.
“There is a social, moral, political and economic case to review the decision of closing stations.”
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Privatisation of waste was wrong another rush to monetise what should be a state controlled job
Here, some “rural” households don’t even get a bin collection service, as a result of private company’s taking over the job. Sort that out! Try carting black bags 20 mins away to the amenities centre in the boot of your car,with the kids and then hefting them (bags not kids) over a railing more than half the height of yourself. Not for the faint hearted! Where is out public services!
@Marie B: within a year of privatisation we went from 4 bins (waste, recycling, compost,glass) with three operators to choose from to 1 operator and just waste,recycling bins now.
I pay a flat rate of just over €80 every 3 months.. I get charged extra for exceeding my weight allowance on recycling.. I went to my recycling plant 20 min away with cardboard, plastic , tetra and payed €2 entry.. actually felt good doing a small bit for the environment.. my recycling bin is now 1/2 full every two weeks.. I asked for a reduction in charges and the advisor actually laughed down the phone at me.. no incentive to do the right thing at all.
@Kenny Malone: So cancel your contract with the bin suppliers and continue to bring your rubbish to the recycling plant. Money is better off in your pocket than there’s
Waste avoidance would also be a good starting point. Almost none of grocery packing is recyclebal.
@smatrix mantra: Don’t know what you are buying but most of the packaging on the stuff I buy is recyclable. Boxes, bottles, tins, plastic wrap, meat trays, all can be recycled as long as they are clean and dry.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: as you said everthing can be recycled but wash all the packaging like my tv licence No
handing bin collection over to private companies like we did with other utilities has been a real treat for Ireland. Overpriced, very little decent services in return. And to think some clowns actually wanted the same thing to happen to the water in this country
You think the so called greens would have sorted this but they have been too busy destroying the city and imposing taxes
Those figures are set to get considerably worse.
Panda (Now a subsidiary of a massive Canadian vulture fund) have a monopoly on collections in many areas and have now introduced a charge on compost lifts, increased the charge on recycling lifts, and added a per kg charge on top for recycling. End result – No incentive to segregate anymore. Everything just goes in general waste now, have contacted them to collect the Green and Brown bins as I don’t need them anymore.
Almost zero recycling bins in our capital city, let alone across towns and villages. Communal bottle banks and clothes banks are few and far between. You have to pay (!) to use the few small recycling centres there are.
Household waste…speaking for Dublin, even if they gave us more bin types (most countries go with plastic, paper, compost and other) theybsit on the street. Why the city can’t install underground communal bins is a mystery, instead we waste money on ‘strong’ plastic sacks to stick on the pavement for the seagulls and foxes to get into each week.
Meanwhile bin collection fees are high and no discount if you have less waste.
It’s not hard…we need to look at other countries in Europe and how they recycle, learn some lessons and then implement them.
I always segregate my waste, yet I read recently that only 20% of plastic in domestic bins, is fit to be recycled. Is it any wonder people aren’t bothered about which bin their waste goes into
If plastic was banned to begin with there would be no issue. Glass bottles, paper bags, keep cups. Cardboard packaging only. Unwrapped fruit and veg. Oh and using local fruit markets and butchers if that’s your thing. And stop eating processed and froxmzen foods. Some containers are nearly impossible to clean due to design oversight.
@Monty Carlow: To be honest, I sometimes rinse salad trays and stick them in the top shelf of the dishwasher. It melts them flat & gets them clean :-)
@Monty Carlow: Glass? I would buy more products in Glass containers if it was easier to recycle them. It is one the most recyclable products going and yet we are not allowed put it in our recycle bins!
It wasnt just Fingal charged €3.80 per Compost bin lift, it was the whole country? I’m in Wexford and i get charged it now too by Panda…Got emailed about it 3months ago.
We use the brown bin all the time but lately , especially during the really hot spell we had a dreadful problem with maggots in the bin. We are very careful with what we put in the bin and with sealing items which provoke these horrible things. We wash out the bin every time it is emptied and use a bin liner (Eco) but leaving collection of this bin for two weeks at a time is ridiculous, it needs to be emptied weekly. The charges have escalated and on a fixed income these charges are substantial, they should be tax deductible to encourage compliance but better yet the service should fall under the cover of our property taxes (home tax).
@Eileen Kelly: In other countries, they have a regular service to clean the bins as well. I don’t see why they can’t offer that here, monthly maybe, steam them out? Often those flimsy overpriced bags tear while they’re being emptied. I’m not sure what facilities apartments have for cleaning bins either.
Used to fastidiously separate my waste, until the brown bin charge came in. Why pay for 3 bins when I can pay for 2.
@Sean Wilde:
Agreed, it’s now about the cheapest option, not necessarily doing the right thing.
Charging for recycling and/or organic waste should be illegal. It is counterproductive.
As long as plastic is produced it will be a problem.
I am just confused over what can and can’t go in the bins especially when it comes to plastics.
@S Os: Check your collector’s website (we are with Wiser), they will have all the info you need.
I live on the Copper Coast. Most people around me just burn their rubbish.
I think Ireland is already one of the best countries in Europe for recycling but there’s still no thanks for it.
Price increases coming on cans and plastic btls to pay for recycling vending machines in February. Return and u get coupons for cash to get increases back.
Must have been horrible to go through it all to find out!
It had been so mismanaged through privatisation that I one gives a damn anymore.
If the rubbish could have been put into Eamon one end it could have come out the other green,or even the other way round cos what comes out of his mouth is similar to it why not try clone him and we all have 3 eamons as bins recycling, waste and garden then it can be evenly spread throughout green areas to enhance growth
Ye, there collection companies have a lot to answer for so…We pay them for 3 bins. Up to them to process the yrash and make sure its recycled or composted. Done our job our end
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