A new Garda dispatch system introduced over the summer has been branded as a barrier to local policing.
GardaSAFE sees all calls requiring the dispatch of a Garda resource handled by a number of regionally located control centres.
The new system is designed to enhance Gardaí responses to ensure that the public receive the best possible response.
This has not been the case according to one Roscommom Women who sought help from local Gardaí last week.
Speaking to the Joe Finnegan Show, the woman described how on Thursday morning last, in Castlerea, she encountered a man sleeping rough in a door way in sub zero temperatures.
She reported ringing the nearby Garda Barracks a number of times, with no result, while on the fourth call, the lady in question was transferred to the Regional Command and Control Centre in Galway City.
Staff at the centre stated a car would be dispatched to help, with the car arriving some time later from outside the town.
In the meantime, the women helping the man in question was forced to call an ambulance due to fears for his health in the cold weather.
Speaking to the Joe Finnegan Show this morning, the Roscommon lady, who has requested to remain anonymous, says the new model prevented local Gardaí from attending what could have become a serious situation:
