An Garda Síochána

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 14 December 2022

Wednesday, 14 December 2022

Questions (223, 224)

Neale Richmond

Question:

223. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí in each county in each of the years 2015 to 2021 and to date in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62510/22]

Neale Richmond

Question:

224. Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Minister for Justice the number of newly attested gardaí in each county in each of the years 2015 to 2021 and to date in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [62511/22]

Written answers

Minister for Justice

I propose to take Questions Nos. 223 and 224 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the administration and management of An Garda Síochána, including responsibility for the recruitment, training and deployment of Garda members. As Minister, I have no role in these matters.

Since 2015, the budget for An Garda Síochána has increased by approximately €672m, or 46%. This has allowed for sustained and ongoing recruitment and as Minister, I am committed to delivering the necessary resources to bring the number of Garda Members to 15,000 and beyond.

The recruitment campaign for An Garda Síochána in 2022 saw 11,000 people expressing an interest in joining the service. This will provide us with a clear pipeline of recruits

I can also inform the Deputy that the number of attestations this year so far is 369 – meaning nearly 500 will have completed or begun their training in 2022.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that at 31 October 2022, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 14,211 Garda members. This represents an increase of 11% since the end of December 2015 when there were 12,816 Garda members.

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.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the table below provides a breakdown of Garda members by Garda Division for the years 2015 up to 2021, and at 31 October 2022, the latest date for which figures are available. Please note that this information is based upon operational data which has been provided by An Garda Síochána and may be liable to change.

Gardaí by Division	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	Oct 2022
D.M.R. EAST	377	376	378	381	373	382	368	371
D.M.R. NORTH	668	676	670	715	753	798	778	778
D.M.R. NORTH CENTRAL	590	612	611	665	689	680	660	647
D.M.R. SOUTH	541	549	532	551	579	586	572	554
D.M.R. SOUTH CENTRAL	627	630	622	648	765	731	710	687
D.M.R. WEST	688	673	672	709	751	767	738	735
KILDARE	312	316	360	380	397	420	422	438
LAOIS / OFFALY	278	299	339	365	373	383	375	380
MEATH	277	286	309	318	319	335	320	323
WESTMEATH	246	242	270	274	277	273	261	251
WICKLOW	318	304	305	310	308	312	306	310
CAVAN / MONAGHAN	318	318	329	346	388	385	381	379
DONEGAL	392	382	386	404	460	462	450	443
LOUTH	287	302	319	348	369	393	392	407
SLIGO / LEITRIM	294	297	304	297	303	310	292	295
KILKENNY/CARLOW	284	296	329	339	334	340	334	330
TIPPERARY	354	364	382	387	380	411	398	396
WATERFORD	282	277	297	348	354	377	372	382
WEXFORD	255	258	292	308	320	335	333	340
CORK CITY	651	644	666	721	730	723	730	711
CORK NORTH	298	300	324	330	335	351	330	337
CORK WEST	276	281	295	303	302	308	297	291
KERRY	300	299	319	335	344	351	351	347
LIMERICK	554	559	558	607	612	601	593	599
CLARE	292	292	309	318	309	314	313	310
GALWAY	560	568	580	614	621	623	606	620
MAYO/ROSCOMMON/LONGFORD*	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	617
MAYO	303	300	323	339	339	343	330	N/A
ROSCOMMON / LONGFORD	292	301	310	318	312	315	298	N/A

* As of September 2022 the Mayo Division and Roscommon/Longford Division amalgamated into one. This is as a result of the ongoing roll out of the new Garda Operating Model.

The table below which has also been provided to me by the Garda authorities, sets out the number of probationer Gardaí who were assigned to Garda stations nationwide from 2015 to 8 July 2022, the date of the last attestation. Please note that this information is based upon operational data which has been provided by An Garda Síochána and may be liable to change.

Divisional Probationer Garda Allocations by Division - 2015 to 8 July 2022	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	Total
D.M.R. EAST	10	19	38	30	26	14	4	17	158
D.M.R. NORTH	20	32	69	77	55	42	6	31	332
D.M.R. NORTH CENTRAL	23	45	70	73	38	23	7	36	315
D.M.R. SOUTH	19	34	66	56	54	24	4	25	282
D.M.R. SOUTH CENTRAL	20	43	78	61	75	23	5	34	339
D.M.R. WEST	30	35	73	81	61	32	7	42	361
CAVAN / MONAGHAN	10	7	23	35	45	11	4	6	141
CLARE	10	5	10	15	0	6	3	2	51
CORK CITY	7	6	26	23	15	27	9	14	127
CORK NORTH	0	5	15	13	11	17	6	15	82
CORK WEST	5	0	15	11	0	7	6	0	44
DONEGAL	10	5	13	26	43	15	5	3	120
GALWAY	5	5	10	16	14	13	7	9	79
KERRY	10	0	17	14	0	14	6	0	61
KILDARE	15	20	47	30	17	23	7	18	177
KILKENNY/CARLOW	10	10	30	12	8	23	4	9	106
LAOIS / OFFALY	9	20	42	22	5	21	8	16	143
LIMERICK	9	17	19	34	12	31	7	14	143
LOUTH	11	17	34	32	42	21	5	16	178
MAYO	4	0	14	0	0	10	5	1	34
MEATH	5	19	30	19	19	25	3	16	136
ROSCOMMON / LONGFORD	0	5	10	3	5	12	3	5	43
SLIGO / LEITRIM	5	5	8	6	13	15	6	0	58
TIPPERARY	5	14	21	13	8	25	8	8	102
WATERFORD	14	10	30	36	21	16	4	15	146
WESTMEATH	5	5	22	4	0	9	4	1	50
WEXFORD	15	10	34	26	9	13	4	8	119
WICKLOW	10	0	19	21	9	10	1	7	77
REMAINING IN COLLEGE (STATION TO BE NOTIFIED)								1	1
Total	296	393	883	789	605	522	148	369	4,005

For the Deputy's information, detailed statistics on Garda workforce numbers are published on my Department's website and can be accessed using the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/bd777-an-garda-siochana-your-police-service-some-facts-and-figures/

Question No. 224 answered with Question No. 223.