Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 November 2015
326. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí stationed in Garda Síochána stations in locations (details supplied) in County Dublin in each of the years 2008 to 2015 to date, in tabular form; and the projected number of gardaí to be stationed at these locations in 2016 and 2017. [39273/15]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that the allocation of Garda resources, including personnel, is a matter for the Garda Commissioner, and that I as Minister have no direct role in the matter. Garda management will continue to keep this allocation of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends, demographics and policing priorities so as to ensure that the best use is made of Garda resources.
This Government is committed to the ongoing recruitment of new Gardaí which is crucial to An Garda Síochána and for the safety of communities throughout the State.
The increased budget allocation for An Garda Síochána in 2016 which I recently announced, provides for the recruitment of 600 new trainee Gardaí in addition to the 550 that will be recruited by year end. This will bring the total number of trainee Gardaí recruited to 1,150 by the end of 2016.
To date there has been five intakes of Garda Trainees to the Garda College, giving a total intake of 475. It is planned that a further 75 recruits will enter college by the end of November, bringing total recruitment of Garda Trainees to 550. So far, 295 of the new Garda Trainees have attested as members of An Garda Síochána. On attestation, new Probationer Gardaí are assigned to Garda stations throughout the country by the Garda Commissioner, where they are assigned to mainstream uniform policing duties. I am assured by Garda management that the needs of all Garda Divisions including the Dublin Metropolitan Region West will be fully considered when determining the allocation of newly attested Gardaí in 2016 and 2017.
The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the allocation of Garda in the stations concerned from 2008-2014 and up to date in September 2015, is currently being compiled in the format requested and will be forwarded to the Deputy directly.
