Garda Promotions

Thursday, 29 November 2018

Questions (119)

Bernard Durkan

Question:

119. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of vacant promotional positions to be filled at all levels throughout An Garda Síochána to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50019/18]

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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.

Appointments to the ranks of sergeant and inspector are a matter for the Commissioner under section 14 of Garda Síochána Act 2005. I am pleased that the Budget 2019 provides resources to increase the number of sergeants in An Garda Síochána by 110 and the number of inspectors by 81 next year. As the numbers in An Garda Síochána continue to increase towards the target of 15,000 by 2021, it is imperative that the appropriate and commensurate numbers of supervisors are put in place.

I am advised by the Commissioner that competitions recently concluded for promotion to the rank of sergeant and inspector with the aim of bringing the number in these ranks up to the full strength as agreed under the Employment Control Framework (ECF). The allocation of successful candidates is currently underway, with 170 sergeants having been appointed to date and appointments to the rank of inspector expected in the coming weeks.

The process of selecting and appointing members to the ranks of assistant commissioner, chief superintendent and superintendent lies with the Policing Authority since 1 January 2017. As Minister, I have no role in the selection and appointment of candidates to these ranks with the exception of members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) whose appointment by the Authority must be approved by the Government. The Authority held competitions for each of these ranks in 2017. A further superintendent competition was completed in July 2018 and a panel of candidates established by the Authority. A competition for the rank of chief superintendent has just been completed. The existence of panels ensures that vacancies arising can be filled without any undue delay.

Appointments to the ranks of Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner are made by Government upon the nomination of the Authority.

For the Deputy's information I have set out in the attached table the Garda strength of each rank as compared to the ECF as of 26 November 2018, the latest date for which figures are currently available, as supplied by the Garda Commissioner. I have requested the information sought in respect of Garda staff promotional vacancies from the Commissioner and I will forward it directly to the Deputy when it is available.

Strength of each rank as compared to the ECF as of 26 November 2018
Rank	Strength	ECF	Vacancies
Commissioner	1	1	0
D/Commissioner	1	2	1
A/Commissioner	9	9	0
Chief Superintendent	45	47	2
Superintendent	166	168	2
Inspector	233	300*	67
Sergeant	1986	2,000*	14

* The ECF will increase in 2019 for Inspector’s by 81 to 381, and for Sergeant’s by 110 to 2110.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 42A

I refer to Parliamentary Question No. 119 which was for answer on Thursday 29 November 2018. At the time I responded that, I would request information from the Garda Commissioner on the query, specifically in relation to Garda staff vacancies raised by the Deputy and that I would write to the Deputy on receipt of same.

As stated in my original reply to the Parliamentary Question, it is the Garda Commissioner who has responsibility to manage and control generally the administration and business of An Garda Síochána, including by arranging for the recruitment, training and appointment of its members and Garda staff and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter.

The Garda Commissioner has advised me that as of the 31 October 2018 there were 376 vacant Garda staff posts. For the Deputy's information, I have set out in the following table the Garda staff vacancies by grade as of the 31 October 2018.

The Commissioner has informed the Minister that it is his intention to recruit a net 600 Garda Staff (civilians) in 2019. This is in line with the reform programme for An Garda Síochána and delivers on the Government’s long-standing policy of civilianisation. The level of recruitment of Garda members and Garda staff planned by the Commissioner for 2019 will ensure that the Government's commitment to the strength of An Garda Síochána reaching 15,000 Garda members and 4,000 Garda staff in 2021 is achieved.

Garda civilian staff are involved in the provision of a wide range of important administrative, professional, technical and industrial support services. As well as providing clerical support and financial management functions in Garda stations and offices across the country, civilian staff carry out a range of specialised support roles in areas such as 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, a number of vital operational support areas are either wholly or largely staffed by civilian staff, such as the Garda Central Vetting Bureau (GCVB), the Garda Information Services Centre (GISC), the Fixed Charge Processing Office (FCPO) and the Command and Control Centre (C&C).

Progress is being made in relation to civilianisation. Since the beginning of 2017 just under 350 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.

I hope this information is of assistance.

-	Garda Staff Vacancies
-	Number of vacancies as of 31 October, 2018
Clerical Officer	274
Executive Officer /Technician	63
Higher Executive Officer (Analyst & Teacher)	25
Assistant Principal	4
Principal Officer	2
Others	8
Total	376