Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
907. Deputy Brendan Ryan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of civilians in the Garda workforce in each Garda division on 31 December in each of the years 2014 to 2018 and on 30 June 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33319/19]
View answerThe number of Garda staff in each Garda Division as of 31 December in each of the years 2014 to 2018, and as of 31 May 2019, can be found at the following link: www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/Garda_Staff.
I am informed by the Garda Commissioner that there are 2,675 Garda staff employed by An Garda Síochána undertaking a range of administrative and technical duties across the organisation. As the Deputy will be aware, the Government's vision is for a Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 to include 15,000 Garda members and 4,000 Garda Staff. The projected 4,000 Garda Staff represents a medium-term target of 20% of the Garda full-time workforce comprised of civilians. Substantial progress is being made towards the realisation of this vision.
Since the beginning of 2017, just under 500 new Garda staff posts have been sanctioned by the Policing Authority with the consent of my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The bulk of these 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. This increase in Garda staff will ensure that trained Gardaí are not engaging in administrative and technical duties which could be done by suitably qualified Garda staff. It will ensure more visible policing and greater numbers of Garda members employed on front line duties.
The Government provided funding in Budget 2019 to sustain continued recruitment into An Garda Síochána. I welcome the Garda Commissioner's decision to recruit a net 600 Garda Staff this year, which will facilitate the ongoing programme of civilianisation in An Garda Síochána and allow for the redeployment of approximately 500 experienced Gardaí to frontline policing duties by the end of this year. This fully reflects the Governments’ continuing support for the Commissioner in reaching the target of 4,000 Garda staff by 2021.
This approach to continued and increased recruitment of civilian personnel is very much in line with the Report of the Commission for the Future of Policing in Ireland. This Report was approved by Government in December. Civilianisation and redeployment are among the key projects being progressed in 2019 in the Implementation Plan published by Government in December - ‘A Policing Service for the Future’ and I am confident the full realisation of these projects will deliver a better policing service to the public.
