Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Oct 1991

Vol. 411 No. 4

Written Answers. - Garda Duties.

Michael Bell

Question:

153 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí in each division who are engaged (a) full-time and (b) part-time in schools' attendance and related matters; the other duties performed by this group (1) during school term and (2) during school holidays; the total numbers engaged in this work by rank over the past five years; if he has any plans to have this work transferred to the Department of Education, vocational education committees or local authorities and have the service operated by the Department of Education; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Justice (Mr. Burke)

Full-time school attendance officers are employed by the borough councils in Dublin, Cork, Waterford and Dún Laoghaire. Outside of the borough areas, the Garda Síochána are the enforcing authority for the School Attendance Act, 1926.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that no member of the Garda Síochána is deployed full-time on school attendance duties. All the members who perform such duties are available for the full range of Garda duties.

The Garda authorities also inform me that statistics are not maintained as to the total number of gardaí involved in school attendance or indeed any other particular duty in a given period. To do so would require the expenditure of an inordinate amount of Garda time and, in the absence of any clearly demonstrable benefit, I do not propose to ask the Garda authorities to consider such an exercise.

There are no proposals at present to transfer Garda responsibility in relation to school attendance to the Department of Education or any other body.