FIANNA FAIL AMNESIA WON’T WASH FOR THE PARTY THAT CLOSED TEMPLEMORE – LYONS

Fianna Fail is again attempting today to re-write history on their record in government on tackling crime and supporting victims of crime. 

Fianna Fail is desperately hoping that the Irish people will forget that it was they who introduced a freeze on garda recruitment. It was Fianna Fail who closed Templemore Garda Training College.  It was Fianna Fail who stopped investing in Garda vehicles, IT systems and other vital equipment for members of An Garda Siochana. 

Labour in government re-opened Templemore Garda Training College in 2014 and re-started recruitment to An Garda Siochana with 1,150 new Gardai recruited up to 2016. We have ensured investment of nearly €29 million in new Garda vehicles since 2012, marking a massive increase on the €4.8 million provided by the previous Government. A further €700,000 has been allocated for the purchase of new specialised Garda response vehicles. 

In addition, a new nationwide network of Garda Victim Service Offices with dedicated staff in each of the 28 Garda Divisions has been established as well as the implementation of the EU Victims Directive.

We will also create a Garda Serious and Organised Crime Unit to tackle organised crime and will bring greater consistency to the sentences handed out to criminals by enacting new sentencing legislation. 

And, of course, only Labour has delivered major reforms to the criminal justice system through the original establishment of the Criminal Assets Bureau in the late 1990s and the new, landmark independent Policing Authority. 

Fianna Fail seems to believe that the Irish people are suffering from collective amnesia.  For the party that closed Templemore Garda Training College for the first time in its history that simply won’t wash. 

ENDS

Contact John Lyons at 0879683711