Garda Strength.

Thursday, 12 October 2006

Questions (88)

Damien English

Question:

79 Mr. English asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the personnel strength of the Garda stations in the Louth, Meath division for each of the years 2002 to 2006 inclusive, if he will provide the information in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32521/06]

View answer

Written answers

Tánaiste and 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 personnel strength (all ranks) of An Garda Síochána increased to a record 12,762 on Friday, 8 September, 2006, following the attestation of 249 new members. This compares with a total strength of 10,702 (all ranks) as at 30 June, 1997 and represents an increase of 2,060 (or 19%) in the personnel strength of the Force during that period. The Garda Budget now stands at €1.3 billion, a 13% increase on 2005 and an 85% increase since 1997 in real terms.

I have been further informed that the personnel strength of each Garda Station in the Louth/Meath Division as at 31 December, 2002 to 2005, inclusively, and as at 11 October, 2006 was as set out in the table hereunder:

Station	31/12/02	31/12/03	31/12/04	31/12/05	11/10/06
Drogheda	89	90	89	93	89
Castle Bellingham	4	4	4	4	4
Clogher Head	3	2	2	1	2
Dunleer	4	4	4	4	4
Laytown	7	7	8	8	10
Dundalk	96	97	101	101	104
Carlingford	3	3	3	3	3
Hackballscross	14	14	13	12	11
Dromad	13	12	11	9	7
Omeath	14	14	15	10	9
Louth	1	2	1	2	2
Blackrock	4	4	4	5	5
Kells	31	34	31	32	36
Crossakeel	1	—	—	—	—
Athboy	6	6	6	6	6
Oldcastle	4	4	4	3	4
Nobber	3	3	3	3	3
Trim	24	25	25	23	25
Kilmessan	1	—	—	—	—
Summerhill	2	2	2	2	2
Longwood	—	—	—	1	1
Enfield	16	17	16	13	13
Ballivor	2	2	3	2	2
Ashbourne	37	37	40	37	48
Dunboyne	15	13	12	14	14
Dunshaughlin	11	11	10	9	2
Kilcock	6	5	4	5	5
Balbriggan	35	32	34	32	33
Skerries	10	10	11	10	11
Lusk	4	4	4	4	4
Rush	4	5	5	6	7
Garristown	3	3	3	3	3
Navan	47	49	46	45	48
Ardee	9	10	10	10	10
Collon	2	2	2	2	2
Duleek	3	4	4	3	3
Slane	4	4	4	4	3

In addition, I would point out to the Deputy that the Garda resources for the Louth/Meath Division are further augmented by a number of Garda National Units such as the Garda National Drugs Unit, the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB), the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and other specialised units.

It is the responsibility of Garda management to allocate personnel to and within Divisions on a priority basis in accordance with the requirements of different areas. These personnel allocations are determined by a number of factors including demographics, crime trends, administrative functions and other operational policing needs. Garda management state that such allocations are continually monitored and reviewed along with overall policing arrangements and operational strategy. This ensures that optimum use is made of Garda resources, and that the best possible service is provided to the public.

I should add that the current recruitment drive to increase the strength of the Garda Síochána to 14,000 members, in line with the commitment in the Agreed Programme for Government, is fully on target. This will lead to a combined strength, of both attested Gardaí and recruits in training, of 14,000 by the end of this year. The first three groups of newly attested Gardaí under this accelerated recruitment programme came on stream in March, June and September of this year and the fourth such group will become fully attested members of the Force later this year. Further tranches of approximately 275 newly attested Gardaí will follow every 90 days thereafter until the programme is complete. The Garda Commissioner will now be drawing up plans on how best to distribute and manage these additional resources, and in this context the needs of the Louth/ Meath Division will be given the fullest consideration.