Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 October 2015
44. Deputy Emmet Stagg asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if she is considering proposals to recruit civilian personnel to work in Garda Síochána stations with a view to reserving trained gardaí for specific police work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35871/15]
View answerAt present civilians make up 14% of the overall Garda workforce. They are employed in a wide range of management, administrative, technical and operational roles where they make an invaluable contribution to the delivery of effective policing services throughout the country. The increased budget allocation for An Garda Síochána in 2016 which I announced yesterday, in addition to providing for the recruitment of 600 new Gardaí, provides for the recruitment of additional civilian experts, in particular to develop the Garda ICT investment programme.
I am committed to ensuring that the overall composition of the Garda workforce achieves the right balance between highly trained Gardaí and professional, skilled civilian staff. Having regard to international experience, there is undoubtedly value in exploring further opportunities for increasing the ratio of civilians to Gardaí, and for releasing Gardaí from administrative and other positions to front-line duties. The process which is currently ongoing to civilianise border control functions at Dublin airport and the transfer of these responsibilities from An Garda Síochána to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) of my Department is an excellent example of this. The first phase of that project is now completed with civilian staff of INIS operating all passport controls in Terminal 1 on a 24/7 basis from 22 June, 2015. The project is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year when civilian staff will be operating on a 24/7 basis in both Terminals of Dublin Airport. I am also looking at deploying civilian officers to other major ports of entry to the State where this makes sense from a cost and efficiency perspective.
Further work in this area will be progressed in conjunction with the Garda Commissioner in the context of the forthcoming report of the Garda Inspectorate of its review under the Haddington Road Agreement. The terms of reference of that review include all aspects of the operation and administration of An Garda Síochána including the structure, organisation and staffing of An Garda Síochána and the deployment of members and civilian staff to relevant and appropriate roles.
