Garda Training.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 February 2006

Thursday, 9 February 2006

Questions (166)

Jim O'Keeffe

Question:

166 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of gardaí appointed to the Traffic Corps in the past 12 months who are untrained Garda drivers and are driving on chief’s permission; the number of gardaí who are driving Garda cars generally and only have chief’s permission; and the additional resources which will be provided to the driving school to ensure that all of those who are officially driving Garda cars have completed the Garda driving course. [4816/06]

Written answers

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. McDowell)

I have been informed by the Garda authorities, who are responsible for the detailed allocation of resources, including personnel, that the number of gardaí appointed to the Traffic Corps in the past 12 months who are driving on chief superintendent's permission in each region as at 7 February, 2006 was as set out in the table hereunder:

Region	Number
D.M.R	10
South Eastern	0
Eastern	3
Northern	1
Western	1
Southern	2

I have been further informed by the Garda authorities that, the number of gardaí who are driving Garda cars generally and have chief superintendent's permission, in each region, as at 7 February 2006 was as set out in the table hereunder:

Region	Number
D.M.R	836
South Eastern	201
Eastern	226
Northern	252
Western	132
Southern	366
Total	2,013

Garda management states that the staffing levels of the Garda driving and training school are currently being examined, with a view to reducing the number of personnel driving on chief's permission.