Stormont policing costs warrant reviewing – Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin MLA for west Belfast Paul Maskey has said that the £8000 a week to have PSNI personelle in Stormont should be reviewed as a matter of urgency.
Mr Maskey was speaking after it was revealed, in an answer to a question he put to the Assembly Commission, that the annual cost of a police presence in Stormont is £413,000.
Commenting on the matter today Mr Maskey said;
“Obviously there is a need for security at the Assembly, I don’t think anyone would dispute that.
In saying that, the security level must be proportionate and given the fact that the Assembly already provides security guards on its premises I find it difficult to believe how this spending can be justified, particularly given the current economic climate.
£413,000 per year is a vast amount of money which I believe warrants review.
The events of November 2006 acted a catalyst for the Assembly to review and subsequently increase security at the Assembly. Since that review, the Assembly Commission increased their own internal security arrangements.
The fact that £8000 a week is being spent on an additional police presence at Stormont when the resources could be redirected into effective community policing warrants an urgent review.” CRÍOCH