James Lawless
Question:125. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí currently based in the Naas Garda district and in the Leixlip Garda district; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8603/22]
View answerThursday, 17 February 2022
Questions (125)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, in accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, which includes decisions on the deployment of personnel among the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.
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 them, having regard to the profile of each area within the Division and its specific needs.
Budget 2022 has provided an unprecedented allocation of in excess of €2 billion to An Garda Síochána, which includes funding for the recruitment of up to 800 additional Garda trainees and 400 Garda staff. This significant investment demonstrates the Government's commitment to increasing the Garda workforce to enable the organisation to keep our communities safe, and to preventing crime in all its forms. As the Deputy will be aware, a new Garda recruitment competition opened last week and I would encourage anyone with an interest in serving in An Garda Síochána to apply.
I can confirm that at 31 January 2022 there were 432 Gardaí assigned to Kildare Division, of whom 162 were assigned to Naas District and 117 were assigned to Leixlip District. These figures represent an increase of over 38% in Kildare Division specifically since December 2015, and increases of over 42% for Naas District and 48% for Leixlip District for the same period.
The table at the following link, which has been provided to me by the Garda authorities, shows the number of Gardaí attached to Kildare Division at 31 January 2022.
As the Deputy will appreciate, Garda numbers nationwide can be affected by a number of factors, including retirements, medical discharges and resignations. The impact of policing measures and other steps to support the public health restrictions has also, exceptionally, had an impact across the country over the past two years. However, I am pleased to note that recruitment has resumed and that there are currently 231 trainees engaged in training.
I am also pleased to note that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, a total of 169 Gardaí have been assigned to Kildare Division.
Detailed information in relation to Garda numbers is available on my Department’s website. This information is updated every month with the latest data provided by An Garda Síochána, and includes the number of Gardaí by station across the whole country.
The information can be found at the following link: www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/An_Garda_Siochana_facts_and_figures.