Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire
Question:551. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the estimated full-year cost of employing ten new administration staff located within An Garda Síochána. [25699/18]
View answerTuesday, 12 June 2018
Questions (551)
Written answers
As the Deputy is aware, civilian staff are employed within An Garda Síochána at a range of different grades and the Deputy will appreciate that the cost of recruitment is dependent on the mix of grades involved.
I have asked the Garda Commissioner for the specific information requested and when it is to hand I will inform the Deputy accordingly.
The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A
I refer to Parliamentary Question No. 551 for answer on 12 June 2018 relating to the cost of employing 10 new administration staff.
As the Deputy will recall the information that you requested could not be obtained in the time available and I would contact you again when the details were to hand. I apologise for the delay in responding, while I consulted with An Garda Síochána on the matter.
The Deputy will appreciate that the Garda Commissioner is responsible for managing and controlling generally the administration and business of An Garda Síochána, including by arranging for the recruitment and training of personnel. Further, the allocation of Garda resources and distribution of personnel are a matter for the Commissioner, in light of his identified operational demands.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that as of 28 February 2019, there were approximately 2,591 civilians undertaking administrative, professional, technical and industrial support duties within An Garda Síochána.
Recruitment of Garda members and Garda staff is ongoing.Since the beginning of 2017 just under 410 new civilian posts have been sanctioned by the Policing Authority with the consent of my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The bulk were to address critical skills gaps and capacity issues with a proportion sanctioned to make a start on the redeployment of Gardaí to policing duties. Of particular significance is that a number of civilians have been appointed to newly created senior leadership posts at Executive Director level to take responsibility for Strategy and Transformation and Legal and Compliance.
I am also informed that current civilian positions in An Garda Síochána range from clerical support and financial management functions to specialised roles in HR, IT and telecommunications, teaching, finance and procurement, internal audit, communications, research and analysis, accommodation, scene-of-crime support, legal and medical services. In addition, civilians also work in operational areas including the Garda Central Vetting Bureau, the Garda information Service Centre, the Fixed Charge Processing Office and the Command and Control Centre. These offices have a large number of civilian staff.
I am advised by the Garda authorities that the cost of employing ten new civilian staff is approximately €450,000 using an average estimated cost per civilian employee of approximately €45,000.
I trust this information is of assistance.
Question No. 552 answered with Question No. 460.