Carol Nolan calls for more Garda visibility and DV funding
Carol Nolan spoke about policing and domestic violence in her constituency of Lee Shoffley, urging implementation of the community Garda model and more funding for local support services. She pressed the minister to address Garda resourcing and to bolster domestic violence supports after escalation during the pandemic.
Opening remarks
She opened by wishing the ministers well and said she looked forward to engaging with them constructively. Nolan then turned to local issues in her constituency of Lee Shoffley.
Policing and Garda visibility
Nolan reported constituent complaints that there is insufficient Garda visibility on the ground and described this as a resourcing problem rather than a failure of the Gardaí themselves. She said recruits are not appearing on the ground as needed and noted increased antisocial behaviour reported to her offices during the lockdown period.
Community Garda model advocated
She called for implementation of the community Garda model so Gardaí are seen in communities acting as role models. Nolan highlighted the value of a named community Garda liaising with young people and reassuring elderly residents, describing the traditional model as having worked well.
Domestic violence and pandemic impact
Nolan urged increased funding for domestic violence support services, saying the issue escalated during the pandemic. She referenced reports in the Leinster Express of instances in Leis where families were sleeping in cars and appealed to the minister to ensure services in Leis Offaly are funded and the matter is dealt with strongly.
Local consequences and requests
She emphasized that more needs to be done on both policing visibility and domestic violence supports and concluded with a plea for stronger attention and funding for these local concerns.
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I'd just like to begin by wishing Minister McEntee and Minister McConnell the very best of luck in their portfolios. I look forward to engaging with you in a constructive manner going forward. I'm just going to raise a couple of points in terms of my own constituency of Lee Shoffley. The complaints that I'm getting from the general public are that there's not enough Garda visibility on the ground. That's no fault of the Garda themselves, but it's a resource problem. We're not seeing the recruits on the ground as we need to. And I know particularly during the lockdown period, there were a lot of reports coming into my offices about antisocial behaviour in many of our towns. And I believe what needs to happen is the community Garda model needs to be implemented, that we need to see our Garda out. And we need to ensure that they're also there acting as a role model and the community Garda model is perfect in the sense that you have your Garda liaising with young people and acting as a role model for young people also in communities. But you also have maybe the elderly population feeling that they feel safer when they see the Garda. And that was the old traditional model. It worked quite well. And I would like to see that being implemented on the issue of domestic violence as well. I do hope that there will be increased funding allocated because it's a huge issue and certainly during the pandemic, it did escalate. I'm aware of them. I know there were reports in the Leinster Express that there were instances in Leis where we had families sleeping in cars. And I would just appeal to the Minister to make sure that domestic violence support services in Leis Offaly are funded and that the issue is dealt with as strongly as it can be dealt with. I believe, you know, that there has to be more done in this particular area. And unfortunately, it's an area that probably doesn't get as much attention as it truly deserves. And I'll end on that note curve market.
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