Vol. 467 No. 6
105 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Justice the consideration, if any, she has given to establishing a new specialist Garda unit or units that would be properly trained to help in murder case investigations and other such serious cases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13849/96]
The detailed allocation of Garda personnel and resources to individual areas is a matter for the Garda authorities. I understand from them that the Investigation Unit commonly known as the "Murder Squad" which was attached to the Technical Bureau at Garda Headquarters was decentralised on a divisional basis in 1988.
A pool of expertise has been retained at Garda Headquarters and these members are available on request to divisional officers in major and complex cases. There are trained teams of investigators within each Garda division and extra members are available to any division for major crime investigations as and when required. Forensic-technical support, such as crime scene examiners, fingerprints, ballistics etc. continues to be provided from Garda Headquarters. Training in the investigation of murder and serious crime is provided to members of the force on an ongoing basis.
The decentralisation, with the training and development of investigators nationwide, has made the divisional investigation teams self-sufficient and, of course, more readily available at short notice. This means that investigations are now working nearer sources of intelligence and have a knowledge of the local community. In addition, their services can be used effectively on other duties when not engaged on major crime investigations.
