I am informed by the Garda authorities that the total strength, covering all ranks, of the force as at 8 May is 11,783. As many as 660 trainee gardaí are due to be recruited and commence training in the Garda Síochána college in 2003. Of these, 318 have commenced training this year to date.
As many as 169 gardaí covering all ranks have retired from the force between 1 January and 8 May. A further 73 are due to retire on compulsory age grounds between 8 May and 31 December.
Due to the varied operational requirements of each Garda post and the changing nature of operational deployments to meet varying operational needs, it is not possible to specify the total number of gardaí required to staff each post. To maintain a Garda presence at a post requiring 24 hour cover it has been calculated that a personnel commitment of 5.17 gardaí is required.
Garda personnel are deployed in a variety of shift patterns in order to maximise the available resources during periods of most demand. The number of Garda personnel on duty can vary from day-to-day and location to location according to the exigencies of the service. I have been informed by the Garda Commissioner that in 2002 there were a total of 2,301 gardaí available for duty at any one time out of a total Garda strength of 11,895.
