Garda Deployment

Tuesday, 20 March 2018

Questions (310)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

310. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí assigned to each county in each of the years 2011 to 2017, and to date in 2018, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12026/18]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner 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.

I am informed by the Commissioner that in regard to the deployment of Garda personnel, a distribution model is used which takes into account all relevant factors including population, crime trends and the policing needs of each individual Garda Division. Where a deficiency in resources is identified the matter is considered fully and addressed accordingly.

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.

Since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, just under 1,800 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide. 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 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 a further 600 Garda trainees are scheduled to attest during the remainder of 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.

I am informed by the Commissioner that the information requested by the Deputy is not readily available in the format requested, as resources are assigned on a Divisional basis which does not necessarily accord to county boundaries. For the Deputy's information I have set out the number of Gardaí, as advised by the Commissioner, assigned by Division for each of the years 2011 -2017 and as of 31 January 2018, the latest date for which figures are currently available.

Garda Numbers by Division 2011 -2018*

DIVISION	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018*
D.M.R. EAST	452	420	407	388	377	376	378	373
D.M.R. NORTH	779	744	714	681	668	676	670	668
D.M.R. NORTH CENTRAL	660	654	624	607	590	612	611	609
D.M.R. SOUTH	605	588	569	549	541	549	532	523
D.M.R. SOUTH CENTRAL	735	700	686	642	627	630	622	612
D.M.R. WEST	771	744	717	699	688	673	672	667
KILDARE	318	318	315	301	312	316	360	357
LAOIS / OFFALY	304	289	284	276	278	299	339	339
MEATH	302	296	287	281	277	286	309	308
WESTMEATH	255	254	245	245	246	242	270	271
WICKLOW	339	334	328	323	318	304	305	305
CAVAN / MONAGHAN	360	348	311	323	318	318	329	329
DONEGAL	444	427	409	397	392	382	386	388
LOUTH	305	292	286	281	287	302	319	313
SLIGO / LEITRIM	313	303	305	296	294	297	304	306
KILKENNY/CARLOW	303	298	289	279	284	296	329	329
TIPPERARY	376	371	371	359	354	364	382	390
WATERFORD	290	284	274	274	282	277	297	298
WEXFORD	273	260	252	251	255	258	292	291
CORK CITY	690	677	683	671	651	644	666	666
CORK NORTH	304	303	300	297	298	300	324	327
CORK WEST	312	304	275	271	276	281	295	298
KERRY	314	298	296	290	300	299	319	320
LIMERICK	637	605	589	565	554	559	558	557
CLARE	308	293	291	287	292	292	309	311
GALWAY	595	585	574	570	560	568	580	576
MAYO	309	300	307	298	303	300	323	327
ROSCOMMON / LONGFORD	286	280	285	285	292	301	310	314

* As of 31 January 2018