Ruairí Ó Murchú
Question:440. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Justice the rank and file positions that remain unfilled in County Louth within An Garda Síochána; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12455/22]
View answerTuesday, 8 March 2022
Questions (440)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for the distribution and management of Garda resources between the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no role in these independent functions. I am assured that the Garda authorities keep this distribution under constant review, to ensure the optimum use of available Garda members.
The budget provided by Government to the Garda Commissioner continues to increase to unprecedented levels, with an allocation of over €2 billion in funding for this year. This includes funding for the recruitment of up to an additional 800 Gardaí and a further 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. This significant investment by the government has allowed for sustained and ongoing investment into An Garda Síochána and into recruitment of new Gardaí, including in Louth.
I am advised by the Garda authorities that as of 31 January 2022, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 398 Garda members assigned to Louth Division. This represents an increase of almost 2% since the same time last year, when there were 391 members assigned to the Division, and over 31% since December 2016. The breakdown by rank of the current total is 1 Chief Superintendent, 2 Superintendents, 10 Inspectors, 45 Sergeants and 340 Gardaí.
These Garda members are assisted by 41 Garda staff, which is an almost 80% increase compared to 2016, when there were 23 Garda staff assigned.
I am further advised by the Garda authorities that there are currently 18 vacancies for members of Sergeant rank across the Louth Division. I am advised that a National competition for Sergeant rank has commenced and an initial group of successful candidates in this competition are due to be promoted to the rank of Sergeant and will be allocated on the direction of the Commissioner.
Separately, the Deputy may wish to be aware that there are 2 Inspector positions to be filled in Louth Division. A promotion competition for Inspector rank is due to commence shortly and again the successful candidates will be allocated on the direction of the Commissioner.