Garda College

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 March 2017

Thursday, 30 March 2017

Questions (4)

Michael Lowry

Question:

4. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the details and costs of the refurbishment works already completed or currently under way at the Garda College, Templemore, for the purpose of improving existing accommodation and providing additional accommodation and facilities; if funding is in place to construct a new administrative block; the expected timeframe for completion; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that there are eight official Garda houses which have been vacant for some considerable time and have fallen into disrepair (details supplied); the way it is intended to address the accommodation and facility needs of the college in view of the increased demand arising from the accelerated recruitment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15903/17]

Oral answers (6 contributions)

Deputy Michael Lowry

I ask the Tánaiste for the details of the costs of the refurbishment works at the Garda College, Templemore, over the past year. The works were carried out for the purpose of improving existing accommodation and providing additional accommodation and facilities at the college. How it is intended to address the accommodation and facility needs of the college in view of increased demand arising from accelerated recruitment?

Deputy Frances Fitzgerald

As Deputy Lowry will appreciate, the programme of replacement and refurbishment of Garda accommodation is progressed by the Garda authorities and the Office of Public Works. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters. However, I want to give the Deputy as much information as possible.

The Deputy will be aware that the Garda College was reopened following the lifting of the moratorium on Garda recruitment. There is now greater demand on the services and accommodation there which have to cope with hundreds of new recruits. Another 750 trainee gardaí are scheduled to attest this year. There will be a need for further development in Templemore.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that, while a number of new facilities were built at the college in the early 2000s, including new administration, catering and recreation facilities, it is accepted that the college infrastructure is in need of further modernisation. Of the seven blocks requiring upgrades, six have been completed, with costs of some €4 million being incurred in recent years.

The Deputy asked about plans for the future. There has been an in-depth examination of the infrastructural needs of the Garda College. My Department's initial submission in the context of the mid-term review of the capital plan references the need for funding for the following proposed developments in Templemore: a ten-unit classroom block; a new purpose-built education and training facility; and a residential accommodation block for trainee gardaí. There is an indicative costing of €35 million. That is entirely dependent on available resources and will be discussed with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

There is greater demand on the college due to increased recruitment. We must ensure that there is a programme of work which will fulfil the needs generated by that increased demand.

Deputy Michael Lowry

I very much welcome the response from the Tánaiste. It represents a very positive commitment to the future of the Garda College, Templemore. There are practical and logistical problems arising from the success of the recruitment campaign. I welcome the Tánaiste's commitment to the new infrastructure at the college.

The Tánaiste has estimated the cost of the works as being €35 million. Has the Department of Justice and Equality made a proposal in that regard to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform? If so, when are decisions expected to be made in regard to capital expenditure? Is it part of the capital expenditure review that is currently under way?

With regard to the golf club at Templemore, there are more than 300 members of the club. There are options available to expand and develop the Garda training facilities at Templemore without encroaching on the golf club, which is used extensively by the local community. I ask that the development programme the Tánaiste is proposing would take that into account, in other words, the development can take place without encroaching on the club.

Deputy Frances Fitzgerald

My Department's initial submission, and I stress it is an initial submission, in the context of the mid-term review of the capital plan references the need for funding for the proposed developments as follows. As I told the Deputy, it is the ten-unit classroom, the new purpose-built education and training facility and a residential accommodation block. I stress that the costs are only indicative at this point but in terms of my Department, it has been included in our discussions on the paper, which we have made available and on which we have had to respond to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform regarding the mid-term review. That mid-term review will be in June of this year. There will be many discussions about the precise capital that is available and it will have to be considered in the context of the overall priorities of the Department of Justice and Equality and of the Government in terms of the amount available into the future. However, with the increased recruitment and the new recruits in Templemore and given the development of training we want to see take place, which is made all the more obvious by this week's events, we want to have very good training facilities provided, and I can only see those being more necessary and developing in the future.

Deputy Michael Lowry

The Tánaiste may not have this information to hand but I ask that she communicate with me on it. Currently in Templemore, there are eight houses which are part of the housing stock available to the college, traditionally and historically. Those eight houses are unoccupied and in disrepair and it does not make sense, at a time of a housing crisis, for a Government agency to have housing stock that is not being availed of. There are many people working in the college, including instructors and staff, who travel long distances and who would happily avail of that accommodation. Will the Tánaiste confirm in whose ownership are those houses? Whose responsibility is it to refurbish the houses, and will she ensure that they are brought back into the housing stock?

Deputy Frances Fitzgerald

Regarding official accommodation, the position is that seven properties have been sold by the Office of Public Works and the sale of one further property is agreed. Four properties are occupied by serving Garda members. Two properties are to be allocated for training purposes, and six properties are under consideration as to their future use. I take the point the Deputy is making.

In light of the Government's approval that the Garda workforce should increase in size to 21,000 by 2021 and the additional training requirements arising under the Garda modernisation programme, the future use of a number of properties attached to the Garda college is now under consideration by the Garda authorities and the Office of Public Works. It is the Office of Public Works which is in the discussions on these properties. That consideration will have regard to the condition of the properties and the cost of restoring them. It is a live issue that is being examined both by the college and by the Office of Public Works.