Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 June 2016
149. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the funding provided and personnel allocated to the Garda Síochána divisional profiles unit in each of the years 2006 to 2016 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16080/16]
View answerAs the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner has responsibility for the distribution of resources, including personnel and budgets, and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter.
I am advised by the Garda authorities that the information requested by the Deputy regarding the resources available to the Criminal Assets Bureau in terms of manpower, including Divisional Profilers and budgets, are published in the Annual Reports of the Bureau which are publicly available online, for each of the years since the establishment of the Bureau.
I understand that to achieve nationwide coverage, the Criminal Assets Bureau has for some considerable time maintained a presence in each of the Garda Divisions through the operation of the Divisional Assets Profiler Programme.
Under this Programme asset profilers are providing a criminal asset profiling service across the Garda Divisions in relation to persons or suspects operating within the area, with particular reference to those involved in serious and organised crime. The Bureau utilises the local knowledge supplied to it by the asset profilers which allows the Bureau to target the proceeds of crime in local communities. They also assist the Bureau with preparatory groundwork in advance of a full investigation and have recourse to the expertise and advice of the Bureau.
In this context, I am informed by the Garda authorities that, as at end April 2016, the most recent date for which figures are available, the number of trained Garda Asset Profilers is 200 as well as 15 Revenue Customs and 3 Social Protection trained asset profilers making a total of 218 operating throughout the country.
