PLANS to build a new Garda regional headquarters in Macroom must be advanced, according to a local TD.

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North-West Aindrias Moynihan has called on the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to “urgently” advance the construction of the planned new regional Garda headquarters in Cork.

The TD urged Leo Varadkar in the Dáil to expedite the construction of the new station in Macroom.

Planning permission for the headquarters in Macroom was granted in 2021.

“A new policing model has been rolled out in many parts of the country and is now being rolled out in Cork County,” said Mr Moynihan.

“A very obvious part of that policing model appears to be missing for Cork: while the headquarters has been identified in Macroom, and planning and the site ready for it, it is not being advanced.

“It needs to be prioritised and urgently advanced without delay.”

The Taoiseach, in response to Mr Moynihan, said his officials were working on the matter and the project was “heading in the right direction”.

Mr Varadkar told the Dáil: 

“We need a new station in Macroom pretty urgently, and also in Clonmel and Deputy Moynihan is correct to say that the difficulty is it has been rolled into a wider PPP project involving two Garda stations, one in Macroom, one in Clonmel, and the Hammond Lane court complex in Dublin.

“And that might have been a good idea at the time, but it clearly hasn’t worked out. So I have officials working on decoupling that, and that would allow us to proceed to construction, both in Macroom and Clonmel within months and then Hammond Lane would be a standalone PPP and that might take a bit longer.

“That’s what we’re working on at the moment. It’s heading in the right direction,” added Mr Varadkar.