asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons who will be deployed to work in a civilian capacity with the Garda Síochána.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Civilian Staff in Garda Síochána.
1.
As I indicated in reply to Parliamentary Question No. 103 on 10 November 1987, my Department are examining the possibility that suitable civilian clerical staff, who may be made redundant elsewhere in the public service, could be redeployed to Garda offices so that gardaí could be released for outdoor operational duties. My Department has been in contact with the Department of Finance in the matter, but it is still too early to indicate whether suitable clerical staff will become available for redeployment or the numbers which might be involved.
I fully agree with the Minister in his investigation of the possibility of deploying staff from other areas in the public service to work in a civilian capacity within the Garda Síochána. I would encourage him to do this as a matter of urgency. In this country there are about 630——
Ceist, le do thoil.
——people working in a civilian capacity within the Garda Síochána. This is only one civilian for every 18 gardaí. In London, for example, they have one civilian for every two policemen. Would the Minister, as a matter of urgency, make some civilians available, particularly to the larger Garda stations in the Dublin metropolitan area, so as to allow gardaí to be on the streets and involved in detection and patrolling work, rather than doing administrative chores that could be done much more efficiently and at cheaper cost by other people.
I thank Deputy Harney for her comments and for her support. The Deputy is correct in that the principle here is an important one which, I think, would command the support of all parties in the House. The situation at present is that there are 412 civilians employed in the force and 560 desk jobs — if I might call them that — being held by members of the Garda Síochána, of which at least 130 to 140 could be handed over if we had civilian clerical staff who might be redundant elsewhere in the public service. We are trying to get some such staff and it is hoped that we shall succeed.