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Road Traffic Offences

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 February 2021

Wednesday, 10 February 2021

Questions (618)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

618. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice further to Parliamentary Question No. 505 of 8 December 2020, if she has received the necessary information from An Garda Síochána to answer same, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6616/21]

View answer

Written answers

The Deputy will appreciate that the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána including decisions on the recruitment and deployment of personnel and resources. I, as Minister, have no direct role in such matters.

I have further requested information from the Garda Commissioner in relation to this matter and will write to the Deputy directly with the information requested, when it is available.

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51
I refer to two Parliamentary Questions which were for answer on 10 February 2021. Parliamentary Question 618 asks “further to Parliamentary Question No. 505 of 8 December 2020, if I have received the necessary information from An Garda Síochána to answer same in tabular form”. For completeness, question 505 asks “the number and location of Garda forensic collision investigators; when the last competition for new collision forensic investigators was held and the number trained; when a new competition is planned” and;
Parliamentary Question 644 which asks “the number and location of Garda forensic collision investigators; when the last competition for new forensic collision investigators was held; the number trained”.
You will recall that the information could not be obtained in the time available and I undertook to consult with An Garda Síochána and contact you again when the information was available.
You will be aware that the Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including personnel matters and deployment of resources. The allocation of Garda resources is made in light of identified operational demand. This includes deployment of personnel among the various Garda Divisions. I have no direct role in the matter.
I am assured, however, that Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of policing priorities and crime trends, to ensure their optimum use. I understand that it is a matter for the Divisional Chief Superintendent to determine the optimum distribution of duties among the personnel available to him or her, having regard to the profile of each area within the Division and its specific needs.
An Garda Síochána has been allocated an unprecedented budget of €1.952 billion for 2021. The significant level of funding provided over recent years is enabling sustained, ongoing recruitment of Garda members and staff. As a result, there are now approximately 14,600 Garda members and over 3,000 Garda staff nationwide.
I have been reliably informed by An Garda Síochána that the last competition for Forensic Collision Investigators occurred in 2018, with the initial advertisement of this competition occurring on 16 April 2018. This competition for Forensic Collision Investigators took place from 23 July 2018 to 17 September 2019, with 10 members trained in total.
The matter of Forensic Collision Investigators is currently being examined, with a view to a competition being this year.
I am advised by An Garda Síochána that the table provided in the attached Appendix shows the number of Garda Forensic Collision Investigators (FCI) per Region at 11 February 2021.
I trust this information is of assistance.
Appendix

Current Number of FCI’s By Region at 11 February 2021

Current Number of FCI’s By Region at 11 February 2021

DMR

6

North Western Region

10

Southern Region

8

Eastern Region

10

Total

34

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