Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 February 2018
152. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the allocation of new gardaí to the Dublin metropolitan region, specifically to Swords Garda station; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6543/18]
View answer153. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the allocation of new gardaí to the Dublin metropolitan region, specifically to Balbriggan Garda station; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6544/18]
View answer154. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the allocation of new gardaí to the Dublin metropolitan region, specifically to Malahide Garda station; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6545/18]
View answer155. Deputy Darragh O'Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the allocation of new gardaí to the Dublin metropolitan region, specifically to Lusk Garda station; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6546/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 152 to 155, inclusive, together.
As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of these resources.
The Garda Stations of Swords, Balbriggan, Malahide and Lusk are all located in the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) North Division. I am informed by the Commissioner that the Garda strength of the D.M.R. North Division on 31 December 2017 was 670 with 45 Garda Reserves and 39 Garda civilian staff also attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.
This Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.
As Minister Stanton outlined earlier today in the Dáil, the Garda College in Templemore was closed in 2010. It was closed by the then Government because of the severe and catastrophic economic crisis that the country was plunged into. The closure of the College and the moratorium imposed at that time has obviously had an impact on numbers in An Garda Síochána. When the last Government came into office, the initial focus was on stabilising the public finances and then returning the country to growth. Once that had been achieved, one of the Government’s first actions was to re-open the Garda College in Templemore.
I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, just under 1,600 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, of whom 123 have been assigned to the D.M.R. North Division with 15 and 23 assigned to Swords and Balbriggan Garda stations respectively. I am pleased to say that Garda numbers, taking account of retirements, increased to 13,551 at the end of 2017 - a net increase of over 600 since the end of 2016.
I am also pleased that funding is in place to maintain this high level of investment in the Garda workforce to ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. This year a further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. Also 800 Garda trainees are scheduled to attest during the year which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, reach 14,000 by the end of 2018.
In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training in 2018.
This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Division, including the D.M.R. North Division.
In so far as the allocation of newly attested Gardaí is concerned, this is a matter for the Commissioner. I am assured by the Commissioner that the needs of all Garda Divisions are fully considered when determining the allocation of resources. However, it is important to keep in mind that newly attested Gardaí have a further 16 months of practical and class-room based training to complete in order to receive their BA in Applied Policing. To ensure that they are properly supported and supervised and have opportunities to gain the breadth of policing experience required, the Commissioner's policy is to allocate them to specially designated training stations which have the required training and development structures and resources in place, including trained Garda tutors and access to a permanently appointed supervisory Sergeant who is thoroughly familiar with their responsibilities under the training programme. I am informed that Lusk and Malahide Garda Stations are not training stations therefore new probationer Gardaí are not allocated to either station. However, it is important to note that the allocation of probationer Gardaí to a Divisional training station facilitates the reassignment of Gardaí to other stations within the Division, if required, by the Divisional Officer.
I know the Deputy had an opportunity to discuss these issues with Minister of State Stanton earlier this evening.
