Vol. 471 No. 8
3 Mr. Foley asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí in the Garda Síochána as at the end of October 1996; the number of anticipated retirements over the coming 12 months; and the proposed number of new recruits over the coming 12 months. [21780/96]
The strength of the force on 31 October 1996, was 10,784 — not including 588 trainee gardaí in phases 1, 2 and 3.
The anticipated number of retirements, resignations etc. over the next 12 months will be in the region of 400. The policy of An Garda Síochána is to grant voluntary retirement to any qualified member requesting it. Under the terms of Article 4 of the Garda Síochána Pensions Order, 1925, members are entitled to retire on reaching 50 years of age provided they have completed 30 years of "approved service", or 25 years of "approved service" in the case of those who applied for the 25 year pension arrangement.
One of the main elements of the anti-crime measures which I announced in July of this year was the recruitment of a further 400 gardaí to the force over the period July 1996 to October 1997. This is in addition to the 350 gardaí already being recruited this year and another 350 planned for in 1997. The anti-crime package also provided for the recruitment of an additional 200 civilians to the force, which will facilitate the release of an equivalent number of gardaí for operational duties. The current Garda recruitment competition covers the period 1994 to 1997.
Is the Minister aware that the number of gardaí is the lowest since 1992 when there were 10,984 in the Force, 200 more than today despite the escalating crime levels? Will the Minister accept there is need for a greater recruitment drive than that proposed because of the considerable number of retirements in the pipeline? How many gardaí are involved in administrative and clerical work? How many female gardaí are in the force?
Let us not forget the statistical aspect of the question.
The numbers are as I have stated. At any time of any year Garda numbers are fluctuating. I could probably choose dates to show that the numbers are far higher now than in a particular month when the Deputy's party was in Government and, equally, I could show they were lower. The manner in which the Garda's work is being done is altering all the time. Since 1992 there are 700 civilians working in the Garda Síochána and I have approval to hire another 200 civilians. Every one civilian hired to do work done by a garda is almost the equivalent of getting an extra member into the force. The automated finger printing service, which heretofore took 500 man-hours to identify finger prints, now takes ten minutes. This has the effect of releasing gardaí for other duties.
It is not just a case of adding extra bodies to the force, I am also taking steps to ensure that existing gardaí are more operationally effective. I do not have the number of female gardaí in the force, but it is low in ratio terms. In relation to whether I should speed up recruitment, the Government programme to hire an extra 400 gardaí commenced in July when we recruited an extra 75, in October an extra 75 and in January next we will recruit 75 more, in addition to the 87 who have been recruited. We are expediting the recruitment programme. The extra tranche of 400 have already started their training.
The decisions made some years ago concerning pension conditions and also to allow gardaí to stay until reaching the age of 60 had an unusual effect in regard to retirements. I will explain how that occurred. In 1990 there were 160 retirements, in 1991, 183, in 1992, 133, in 1993, 369, in 1994, 472 and 1995, 446. Retirements are now levelling out because of the effects of the extension of the age between 1989 and 1992, when people remained in service for the extra three years, all retiring together in 1995, resulting in a quirk in the system. However, the House will see that over three years the average was approximately 160, beginning to level out and this year the number of retirements is fewer than recruitments.
Is the Minister aware that staff numbers in the Garda divisions of Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo have fallen by 42, 35 and seven respectively since 1990 to 5 November 1996? Can the Minister give me an undertaking, or state what steps she will take, especially in the case of the Donegal division, to reinstate its strength even to its 1990 level which is already acknowledged to be insufficient?
When one witnesses the success of the juvenile liaison programme, bearing in mind the numbers involved, will the Minister consider redeployment or recruitment geared especially for that purpose, particularly since in Donegal there are in excess of 44,000 under 18 years, with only three gardaí to deal with that area and in Limerick some 33,000 plus under 18 years catered for by one sergeant and one garda since juvenile liaison officers have told me that in the region of 90 per cent of those with whom they deal do not reoffend? If the programme is so successful why is the Minister not focusing her attention on it, and allocating adequate gardaí?
I am anxious to facilitate the Deputy in eliciting as much information as possible but the Chair must have regard to the fact that essentially the question is of a statistical nature. The Minister may wish to respond.
I have taken a note of what Deputy Keaveney said about the strength of the Garda force in Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo. The deployment of the Garda Síochána is a matter for the Commissioner. I do not telephone him and say I want X number of gardaí allocated to Donegal or Leitrim; it is for the Commissioner to deploy the force at his disposal in whatever manner he deems suitable.
The House will be aware that last year I regionalised senior management of the Garda Síochána by appointing assistant commissioners to deal with the different regions. It was precisely on account of the type of question raised that deployment within a division, or a number of divisions, or redeployment, will be most beneficial when the relevant assistant commissioner will be in charge of a wider area than chief superintendents heretofore and can ascertain where best to deploy members of the force.
The juvenile liaison officers are members of the Garda Síochána, there is no separate recruitment in their case, or any way in which I can advertise for a group of new juvenile liaison officers. I agree it is an excellent service as approximately 80 per cent of those handled under it do not reoffend. While I do not have the exact figure, in 1995 something in excess of 14,000 young people were brought to the attention of the juvenile liaison office. I will pass the Deputy's comments to the assistant commissioner in that area to ascertain whether he can re-examine the deployment of the force available in addition to examining the programme itself.
While thanking the Minister for the information furnished, does she agree that an additional recruitment of 400 will merely be commensurate with the numbers of retirements within the next 12 months? Will she consider phasing in increased numbers of recruitees over a period of less than 12 months?
I am not recruiting merely 400 gardaí. In 1995 350 were recruited, the same number this year and 350 will be recruited next year. The total was to have been 1,050 but with the 400 additional places approved by Government, it will now be 1,450. I cannot speed up Garda training, it is a fixed programme in Templemore. We are not experiencing any difficulty in filling the 400 posts.
I propose to bring details of a new competition for the Garda Síochána from 1997 onwards to Government, probably early in the new year, so that we can arrange advertisements, interviews and so on.
It appears that those who shout loudest reap results. While the Minister indicated it is not her responsibility to allocate gardaí, when one looks at the figures involved at passing out parades there appears to be a great imbalance in some parts of the country. Will the Minister please bring to the notice of the Garda Commissioner that other areas are being neglected, that Members are continuously listening to complaints and that gardaí are certainly overloaded in the Cork area? On the occasion of the latest passing out parades, we have seen the numbers, but very few have been allocated to my constituency. Will the Minister convey my comments to the Commissioner?
I agree with Deputy Keaveney that the juvenile liaison programme is an excellent one to which more attention should be devoted because the sooner younger people are brought into contact with the Garda Síochána the better it will be for the community? While it is an excellent scheme, does she agree it needs to be developed further?
For obvious reasons I must dissuade Members from entering into policy.
I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply to a statistical question. Why is it the Minister had no difficulty in furnishing us with statistics on this question but was unable to do so on Question No. 1 relating to the Special Criminal Court?
Let us not revert to earlier questions now.
