asked the Minister for Justice if he will authorise the provision of additional manpower at the Tallaght Garda station in Dublin 24 to serve the Tallaght district; whether, apart from additional gardaí being needed at the station to serve the area properly, one additional secretarial staff member is required at the station; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Tallaght (Dublin) Garda Strength.
40.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 39 and 40 together.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that 1,913 indictable crimes were recorded in the Garda subdistrict of Tallaght in 1986. This represents a decrease of approximately 10 per cent over the previous year.
The allocation of Garda manpower and other resources as between various stations is primarily a matter for the Garda authorities. As regards Garda strength at Tallaght station, I would refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 105 on 10 November 1987. I understand that there are no proposals at present to assign additional clerical staff to the station but the possibility of redeploying, to Garda offices, civilian clerical staff who may be made redundant elsewhere in the public service, is being examined. On the question of other resources, it is planned that a new radio communications system for the Garda in the Dublin Metropolitan Area will come into operation early in the New Year. This new system will benefit all stations in the DMA, including Tallaght. It will help Garda management to ensure that all the resources available to them are used to the greatest possible advantage and enable gardaí engaged on operational duties to provide a more efficient service to the public — for example, in answering calls from the public for assistance.