Minister: Garda contingency plans 'make sense'
Justice Minister Alan Shatter said today that it "makes sense" for the Garda Commissioner to make contingency plans, including the closure of stations, to deal with reduced officer numbers.
Under the terms of the Troika bailout, more than 1,000 gardaí have to be cut from the force, while a raft of retirements is expected before new rules on pensions come into force next February.
Minister Shatter has described as "alarmist" claims from Fianna Fáil that 24 stations face closure in Donegal alone.
"What the Garda Commission is wisely doing is looking at stations right across the country to ascertain whether there are efficiencies which could be put in place which will ensure that the trained gardaí are used to the best possible advantage and are there savings that can be made in circumstances in which it may be appropriate that stations, for example, close at nine or 10 o’clock at night instead of staying open all night," he said.
