Vol. 436 No. 3
2 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Justice if, in view of the recent kidnapping of a senior bank official and the spate of robberies and shootings that are now a daily occurrence, she will give the plans, if any, she has to bring the Garda force up to its authorised strength.
4 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Justice if her attention has been drawn to the recent editorial in Garda News expressing concern at the fall in the num bers in the force and expressing concern that the recruitment drive is not sufficient to deal with the problem; her response to the editorial; the plans, if any, she has to increase the strength of the force with particular reference to the numbers of community Gardai in urban areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
6 Miss Flaherty asked the Minister for Justice when the next Garda recruitment campaign will take place.
12 Mr. Cullen asked the Minister for Justice the number of Garda Síochána presently in the force; if she intends to increase this number; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
24 Mr. Carey asked the Minister for Justice the reason the intake of Garda recruits planned for 15 November 1993, was postponed to February 1994.
45 Mr. Molloy asked the Minister for Justice the number of Garda Síochána presently in the force; if she intends to increase this number; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
48 Mr. Barrett asked the Minister for Justice the present strength of the Garda Síochána; the way in which the present membership compares with the figures for 1986 and 1989; and the estimated strength of the force at the end of 1994, allowing for retirements and new recruits.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 45 and 48 together.
It is impossible to deal with the very serious issues raised by the seven Deputies who have tabled these questions, by way of a brief response. Therefore, I hope that the House will bear with me while I make some observations which I believe are highly relevant in looking at the question of Garda numbers.
The first point is that it is a mistake to believe that the only figure to be considered in comparing Garda capacity to deal with crime, at one period in time as against another, is the total strength of the force at the relevant times. What is at least as important as the overall strength figure is how the force is actually deployed and used. I am sure Deputies will have no difficulty in agreeing with this. The improvement of actual operational capacity, which is the issue that concerns the public, is an ongoing priority for Garda management and there have been some quite significant developments on this front in recent times. I might mention, by way of example, the release of gardaí for operational duties by means of greatly increased use of civilian employees and the establishment of various specialist units within the force to tackle serious crime — the highly successful Cobra unit to deal with bank raids is a case in point.
The second point, which is I suppose the other side of the same coin, is that it does not follow that improved operational capacity is guaranteed by increasing Garda numbers. There is simply no basis for suggesting that the kidnapping to which Deputy Mitchell refers and the shootings that have taken place might have been prevented if the force happened to be at its authorised strength when these crimes took place. I know that Deputy Mitchell and others means well but, on the basis of the best professional advice available to me, I cannot pretend that the answer to these problems lies simply in throwing resources in the form of more and more manpower at the problem. I have already expressed my abhorrence over the recent kidnapping. I have been in constant contact with the Garda authorities about it. I am informed that no stone is being left unturned to find the culprits and that there are no resource problems getting in the way of progress. The same is true of the other serious crimes mentioned.
I fully accept, of course, that while crime fighting capacity is not necessarily increased by adding more and more manpower resources, it is not right either to suggest that the maintenance of overall Garda numbers is an issue of secondary importance. The maintenance of manpower levels is of course a matter of great importance and I want to talk now about the actual position in relation to total Garda strength.
Before the new training procedure came into force, after 1989, the practice was to include all garda trainees in the numbers. Now, with a two year training period, the view is that it might be misleading to include all garda trainees in the overall figures of Garda strength. On that basis, therefore, the present strength of the force is 10,878 which figure does not include 453 recruits who have not yet been attested to the force and are still in phases I to III of the training programme. The strength of the force in December 1986 was 11,382, which figure included 144 recruits in training. It is worth mentioning that the number of gardaí in December 1989 was 10,472, with 340 further recruits in phases I to III of the training programme.
The projected figure for Garda strength at the end of 1994 is 10,908, with around 400 further non-attested gardaí in training. That figure is based on the continuation of recruitment at present levels and current projections of wastage. However, I shall return to the subject of recruitment levels and my plans in that regard.
First, I wish to deal with two specific points, the supposed postponement of Garda recruiting and the number of community gardaí. I want to refute the suggestion that the intake of recruits has been postponed. As Deputies will be aware, 1,000 gardaí are in the process of being recruited over the four years 1992 to 1995. A total of 324 recruits have been taken on this year as compared with 269 in 1992. The fourth and final intake of 30 recruits took place on 15 November last.
The number of community gardaí has been increasing at a steady rate. There are now 214 members employed on these duties as compared with 200 at the beginning of the year in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. The Garda Commissioner and I agree totally on the need to increase these numbers further and the necessary steps will be taken to achieve this key objective of modern policing policy.
Finally, and I believe most importantly, I want to make it known to the House that in view of the priority which both I and the Government attach to the problem of crime in our society, allied to the law and order situation generally, I am in the process of submitting detailed proposals to the Government for a package of measures ranging right across my Department's areas of responsibility aimed at dealing with the general crime situation. The measures are in the Garda, prisons and courts areas and I hope to be in a position to make a further announcement on the matter within the next few weeks.
In drawing up my proposals, I have paid particular attention to the commitments in the Programme for Government in all of these areas, as well as proposals in the Garda Commissioner's corporate strategy document submitted to me earlier this year.
Specifically, with regard to the subject matter of these questions, the important elements are those dealing with accelerated recruitment of gardaí, as well as increased civilisation to release more members of the force for operational law enforcement duties. My proposals for Garda recruitment will be contained in this comprehensive package.
How many times are we to be told about the Minister's plans and proposals? When will we see action? Is it not a fact that during the week the family of a businessman was kidnapped the Minister postponed an intake of Garda recruits from 15 November until February next year? The Garda force is approximately 500 less than its authorised strength. The Minister's priority should be to increase the Garda force to its authorised strength so that people can at least see the necessary manpower on the streets to deal with the rampant crime problem.
I regret that Deputy Mitchell did not listen carefully to my reply. With regard to the recruitment programme for this year, the fourth and final intake was for 30 recruits. The recruitment was due to take place on 15 November and it took place on that date.
Will the Minister agree that the number of gardaí retiring and leaving the force is now greater than the number of recruits? Will she confirm that the number of gardaí who left the force this year was approximately 450, which is considerably in excess of the number recruited for training? Will the Minister comment on the prediction in the current issue of Garda News that if the present recruitment policy is continued the strength of the force will be as low as 10,600 by 1996, its lowest level for a very long time? It is unacceptable that there should be such a reduction in the strength of the Garda at a time when the crime rate is rising.
I do not have figures on the number of gardaí who have retired but I have no reason to doubt the figures given by Deputy Gilmore. The present level of Garda recruitment has been a source of concern to the Garda authorities and the Garda representative associations. When I met representatives of these associations after I became Minister for Justice I referred them to a commitment in the Programme for Government, a commitment to which I am totally committed. I will be announcing proposals in this regard before the end of this year. As the Deputy correctly stated, it would be most unsatisfactory if the level of recruitment was maintained at its present level. I am not prepared to continue with this level of recruitment; I want to accelerate recruitment. The Deputy will have my proposals in this regard before the end of the month.
Given that a serious kidnapping took place recently in Dublin, a man was murdered at a Hallowe'en bonfire, people are being shot in the legs and knee-capped, drugs are being sold openly on the streets and the provision of ramps and the installation of car alarms have become the order of the day, can the Minister say why the Garda strength is 500 below the authorised level? I am not talking about the additional gardaí who might be necessary in the circumstances; I am asking why the strength of the Garda has not been brought up to its authorised level. Will the Minister give an assurance to the House that the Garda strength will be brought up to its authorised level and will not be let fall below that level again?
I do not think it is necessary for me to again assure the House that the Garda strength will be brought up to the level recommended by the Garda Commissioner, Garda authorities and Garda associations. People are making a mistake when they say that the number of gardaí is much lower than it was some years ago. One has to look at the deployment of gardaí and take into account the fact that 700 gardaí who were previously employed on office duties in stations are now deployed on the streets in maintaining law and order. It is not correct to make a comparison between past and present figures. If one is to be rational about this matter, one has to look at the way in which members of the force are now deployed. Both the Commissioner and I — this point has been repeatedly stressed by Deputies in the House — want to ensure that gardaí are available at times of greatest need. In tandem with this policy, I am announcing an accelerated recruitment programme which will bring the strength of the Garda force back up to the level which both the Commissioner and I believe is required.
Given the comprehensive list of figures read out by the Minister, I find it extraordinary that she does not have any figures on the levels of wastage and retirement within the Garda. With regard to the recruitment programme, will the Minister agree that if that programme was to proceed apace for 1995 the advertisements for Garda recruits should have been placed in the newspapers? The accelerated recruitment campaign to which she referred should have commenced and the recruitment process should have started. Is it not the case that that recruitment process has been delayed on instructions from the Department of Finance and there has been an about turn by the Government on the recruitment programme about which we heard so much over the past few months?
No direction has been issued by the Department of Finance to stop, reduce or decelerate the recruitment programme. One does not have to place advertisements in newspapers for an accelerated recruitment programme. As I tried to explain in my initial reply — perhaps I failed to do so — the programme begun a few years ago, and for which examinations were held, was for the recruitment of 1,000 gardaí up to the end of 1995. I said I proposed, with the support of the Government, which I have got, to telescope that recruitment up to the end of 1994, thus bringing the date forward one year. No new recruitment programme is needed to do this. However, a new recruitment programme will be required next year for the following years, and that programme will be put in place.
