TÁNAISTE MICHEÁL MARTIN has said a dedicated transport police will become a reality if Fianna Fáil are in the next government.
When asked by The Journal if the time has come for a transport police unit, he said: “No question.”
In the first of our party leader election interviews, Martin said:
I’m saying it’s going to happen one way or the other.
“If public transport at night in particular is to work, people need to feel safe on public transport. We can discuss the modalities with the NBRU and others in Siptu, they want gardaí,” the Fianna Fáil leader said.
It is envisaged that the initiative would start with the capital, and then would be expanded to other Irish cities, such as Cork.
Today, gardaí were patrolling rail services around the country as part of a day of action to combat anti-social behaviour on public transport.
Operation ‘Twin Tracks’ took place on eight Intercity rail routes as well as on DART and Luas services in Dublin.
Just a month ago, the current Transport Minister Eamon Ryan ruled out the establishment of a dedicated transport police unit, saying there was no need.
In February, Siptu published a survey which found four out of five public transport workers have experienced abuse during the course of their work, and reiterated their call for a dedicated transport police.
Public transport operators have also reported seeing an increase in violence and anti-social behaviour towards other passengers.
Siptu has been calling for dedicated public transport police for decades, but the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has shot down the idea in the past.
Martin told The Journal that there should be no such obstacles, indicating that government agencies, such as the gardaí must fulfill government policy.
He said “democratically”, if the government “decides this is the way to go, well then, the agency of the state has to fulfill it”.
“That’s a very fundamental point. I think agencies and people need to realise that too, that there comes a stage when policy is decided upon by government, then it has to be implemented, whether you agree with it or not,” he said.
Hinting at pushback on the matter, Martin said there has been a tendency over the last 15 years for that not to be followed.
“If decisions are made, they shouldn’t be frustrated… if it’s the definitive policy of government to do a certain thing, it should be done,” he said.
The Fianna Fáil leader said it is legitimate for gardaí, in turn, to call for more resources.
“In my view, we’re going to have more and more public transport. We’re going to have a Metro in the fullness of time. We’re going to have expanding Luas and so on, the Dart and all of that. We’ll have more buses, and therefore, if it’s to work, we’ve got to make sure that people are secure and safe,” said Martin.
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