Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 5 July 2018
30. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to increase the number of gardaí along the Border areas in County Donegal to deal with the increase in criminal activity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28896/18]
View answer62. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí in County Donegal in each of the past ten years; his plans to allocate additional resources to County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28894/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 30 and 62 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.
I am informed by the Commissioner that the strength of the Donegal Division on 31 May 2018, the latest date for which information is readily available, was 393. There are also 14 Garda Reserves and 35 Garda civilian staff attached to the Donegal 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.
I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, almost 2,000 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, of whom 37 members have been allocated to the Donegal Division. 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; some 400 of whom have already done so. In total, 800 Garda trainees are scheduled to attest during the year, 400 of whom have attested to date. Further, Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, are on track to 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 Donegal Division, as new Garda recruits continue to come on stream.
I want to reassure you that criminal gangs that target all areas of the country and prey on rural communities are continuously monitored and relentlessly targeted by An Garda Síochána.
For the Deputy's information, I have set out in the table the number of Gardaí in the Donegal Division in each of the years 2008 to 31 May 2018, the latest date for which figures are readily available, as provided by the Commissioner.
|
DIVISION |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018* |
|
Donegal |
488 |
468 |
466 |
444 |
427 |
409 |
397 |
392 |
382 |
386 |
393 |
*As of 31 May 2018
