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Garda Strength

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 May 2020

Wednesday, 13 May 2020

Questions (370, 371)

Frank Feighan

Question:

370. Deputy Frankie Feighan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the estimated cost of increasing Garda strength to 16,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4665/20]

View answer

Frank Feighan

Question:

371. Deputy Frankie Feighan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the estimated cost of recruiting an additional 2,000 Garda civilian staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4666/20]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 370 and 371 together.

The Garda Commissioner is the accounting officer of An Garda Síochána and is statutorily responsible for carrying on and managing and controlling generally the administration and business of An Garda Síochána including human resource matters. As Minister, I have no responsibility for these matters. I am assured however, that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities, to their optimum use.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that as at 30 April 2020, there are 14,714 Garda Members. This figure includes the Garda trainees from two separate intake classes who attested earlier than scheduled on Friday, 20 March, which was an operational decision taken by the Garda Commissioner in order to augment An Garda Síochána's response to Covid-19.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the number of Garda members changes in line with recruitment and retirements. However to be of assistance I have can provide detail to the Deputy on the estimated cost of increasing the Garda strength by 1,000 members.

I am advised by Garda management that the estimated cost of recruiting an additional 1,000 Garda members would be approximately €23.3m in a full year.

I should point out that the Garda authorities note that this estimated figure relates to the costs of newly attested Gardaí only. It may be noted in addition that payroll costs for new Garda recruits include a basic allowance of €184 per week. After 32 weeks of training, Garda recruits are attested and move on to the first point of the Garda pay scale. The overall estimate provided includes Employer's PRSI and an estimation of allowances which Garda members may qualify for depending on their assignments. The annual cost of these additional recruits would continue to increase as the members move up the Garda Pay scale each year. This estimated costing does not take into account any pay rises occurring after 1 January 2021.

I am further informed by the Garda authorities that as of 30 April 2020, there are over 3,000 Garda staff undertaking administrative, professional, technical and industrial support duties in the organisation. The current objective was to increase that to 4,000 in 2021.

I am informed that such staff positions range from clerical support and financial management functions to senior management, including specialised roles in HR, IT and telecommunications, as well as finance and procurement, internal audit, communications, research and analysis, accommodation, scene-of-crime support and legal and medical services. Large numbers of Garda staff also work in key operational areas including the Central Vetting Bureau, the Information Service Centre, the Fixed Charge Processing Office and the Command and Control Centre.

Bearing in mind this broad range of duties, I am advised by the Garda authorities that the estimated cost of employing an additional 2,000 Garda staff would be approximately €90m in a full year, on the basis of an average estimated cost per civilian employee of approximately €45,000, including employer costs such as PRSI.

It should be noted that these estimated figures do not take into account the considerable additional costs that would be incurred in respect of accommodation, ICT, overtime and so on, if the Garda member and staff strengths were raised to the levels queried by the Deputy.

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