The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has performed an important service by questioning the decision of the Government to re-open Stepaside Garda station.
It was obvious from the beginning that the commitment in the Programme for Government to review the decision to close Stepaside was a sop to Independent Alliance Minister, Shane Ross. In the protracted talks that preceded the formation of the Fine Gael-led government in May 2016 he extracted a commitment to review the decision to close the station, which is in his constituency. It was a blatant example of stroke politics which reflected badly on the lengths to which politicians were prepared to go to form a government after the inconclusive general election.
While the Stepaside affair is in itself relatively trivial, it does raise questions about whether proper consideration was given to some of the more costly commitments in the Programme for Government. The revelation last year that crime in Stepaside had actually fallen since the Garda station was closed further undermined the case for its reopening.
Although the Garda review of the closures recommended that Stepaside and five other stations be re-opened, there was clearly no great enthusiasm for the move at senior levels in the force. In its report published this week the PAC came to the conclusion that the criteria applied to the review of which Garda stations should be re-opened did not take account of the policing priorities in the Dublin region. It went on to recommend that the ultimate decision to re-open stations should take into account the best use of Garda resources, use of State funds and policing priorities.
The PAC made the sensible suggestion that before a final decision is made to commence the process of re-opening Stepaside, a review should be undertaken by the Office of Public Works regarding the suitability of the station building, the estimated cost of renovation, and the possible requirement for a new building in the future. On the face of it, however, the latter possibility could render this political stroke all the more costly.