Christopher O'Sullivan
Question:12. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí assigned to the Bandon, Bantry and Clonakilty districts. [7512/23]
View answerThursday, 16 February 2023
Questions (12)
Oral answers (6 contributions)
My question asks how many gardaí are assigned to the Bandon, Bantry and Clonakilty districts.
I thank the Deputy for raising the important issue of the number of gardaí assigned to Bandon, Bantry and Clonakilty districts. The Government is committed to building stronger and safer communities. Since 2015, the Government has increased the budget for An Garda Síochána by approximately €672 million or 46%. This has allowed for sustained and ongoing recruitment. We are committed to delivering the necessary resources to bring the number of Garda members to 15,000 and beyond.
In respect of individual Garda divisions, the Deputy will appreciate that 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. I am assured that the Commissioner keeps the allocation of these resources under continual review, in line with crime and population trends, to ensure their optimum use.
I am informed by the Garda authorities that as of the end of December 2022, a total of 100 Garda members were assigned to the Bandon district, 54 to Bantry and 63 to Clonakilty. There has been a 5% increase in the number of gardaí assigned to the west Cork division since 2015 and a 35% increase in the number of civilian Garda staff assigned to west Cork. The increase in Garda civilian staff has helped free up gardaí from back-office duties for front-line policing work.
Since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, a total of 4,029 Garda members have attested, including 369 probationers who attested in 2022 and 24 probationers who attested on 13 January this year. I am advised that 36 probationer gardaí have been allocated to Bandon, Bantry and Clonakilty since 2015.
I assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities and a strengthened, well-resourced Garda Síochána is central to this policy. As of the end of December 2022, there were 14,133 sworn Garda members across the country. This is a significant increase from 12,816 Garda members nationwide in 2015. These gardaí are supported by 3,126 Garda civilian staff, which represents an increase of more than 50% on the number assigned in 2015. This increases the availability of gardaí to concentrate on front-line policing duties.
I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate that the figures he shared include civilian gardaí. The figures I have been given in communication with senior gardaí in the west Cork area suggest that the numbers have fallen by 16. There were 307 gardaí in the area in 2017 and there are now only 291. A reduction of 16 gardaí is a lot in a region such as west Cork, which is peripheral and has a small population. It is a sparsely populated area. This is a worrying trend because it means that, while gardaí still prioritise responding to criminal activity, etc., the area that is suffering is their engagement with the community and the community work they, and all of us, feel is incredibly important. I would like to see the trend reversed so that we see an increase in the number of gardaí in west Cork.
I again thank the Deputy for his question. As I said, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the allocation of resources to a given division, district or station. He keeps the allocation of resources under continual review. There has been an increase in the number of gardaí in the area about which the Deputy asked since December 2015 but there may have been variations within those time periods due to operational issues. As I said, the Garda Commissioner will continue to keep the level of deployment under continual review.
We are now undergoing a significant Garda recruitment process and expect 1,000 prospective gardaí to enter training in 2023. That will help to significantly increase the resources of the Garda Commissioner and his ability to deploy additional gardaí across the country.
I appreciate the Minister of State's response. It seems that we are struggling, both in west Cork and at a national level, to recruit and retain. The issue has been well covered and we must acknowledge it is the case. If I think back 20 years to when I was 19 or 20, becoming a garda was still an attractive profession and line of work to go into. That does not seem to be the case now. There seems to be a reluctance to join the Garda. I imagine that is the result of the conditions. We need to start talking up the profession a bit more. We need to start talking it up as an important role. Coverage on social media and the media more generally is certainly not helping. We have seen instances of aggression and assault, particularly in urban areas. Thankfully, I can attest to the fact that is not the case where I am from in west Cork but that is what young people are seeing and are exposed to. As a result, becoming a member of the Garda becomes less of an attractive prospect in terms of a career, going forward. We need to start to knock that on the head.
I assure the Deputy there was massive interest in joining the Garda during the last recruitment campaign. There were more than 11,000 initial responses and we have had no difficulty in finding people who want to become members of the Garda. There is no issue in respect of the attractiveness of the Garda or people seeking to become gardaí. That is reflective of the high esteem in which the Garda is held in this country. There was a challenge in respect of training the applicants who came forward due to the pandemic. We are now past that situation and are accelerating the training of the prospective gardaí we have recruited. It is expected that 1,000 prospective gardaí will enter training this year. We will be starting a new recruitment campaign this year and I expect a similarly positive response. The clear message is that during the most recent recruitment campaign, there was positive and significant interest in joining the Garda. There is no difficulty in that respect.
Question No. 13 taken with Written Answers.