Pa Daly
Question:99. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice the number of Garda superintendents who will be based in County Kerry for 2022. [36611/21]
View answerThursday, 8 July 2021
Questions (99)
Written answers
As the Deputy will appreciate, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the general management and administration of the Garda organisation. This includes the deployment of members of An Garda Síochána throughout the State. As Minister, I have no role in these independent functions.
I am informed by Garda management that, as at 2 July 2021, there are three superintendents assigned to the Kerry Division. These numbers have been consistent across recent years.
The Deputy will be aware that the introduction of a new Garda operating model is a key recommendation in the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, published in September 2018, and is to be rolled out under its implementation plan, A Policing Service for our Future . Under the new model, all services will be managed and co-ordinated at divisional level, to allow greater specialisation and to release Gardaí from back office functions, and Garda districts will no longer form part of the organisational structure.
I am advised that, under the operating model, there will continue to be three superintendents assigned to the Kerry Division, each heading a different functional area. One superintendent will be assigned to community engagement, a detective superintendent will lead crime investigation, and one superintendent will be responsible for performance assurance. Senior management in the Kerry Division has been also been strengthened by the assignment of an assistant principal officer who has responsibility for leading the business services area.
As the Deputy will appreciate, change is never easy and I do not underestimate the amount of disruption and unease that change on this scale will bring but I am confident that, as envisaged by the Commission on the Future of Policing, the adoption of this new policing model will strengthen the service provided by An Garda Síochána to the people of Kerry and other Divisions around the country.