Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 October 2023
444. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice to provide a breakdown, by division, in tabular form, of the number of civilian staff in gardaí, and their grade, for each of the past ten years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42451/23]
View answerThe Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities and the 2023 budget of over €2 billion will allow for the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff, with Garda recruits entering Templemore approximately every 11 weeks. I can assure the Deputy that the Government remains committed to reaching its current targets of 15,000 Gardaí and 4,000 Garda staff.
Overall, since 2015 there has been an almost 9% increase in the number of Gardaí. There was also an increase of 57% in Garda staff for the same period. Garda Staff perform a number of vital roles that are essential to a modern police service and increase the availability of Gardaí to concentrate on frontline policing duties.
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 the distribution of Garda personnel throughout the State. As Minister, I have no role in these independent functions.
I am advised that the information in the link below, which was provided to me by the Garda authorities, sets out the number of Garda staff by Grade at the end of December 2013 up to the end of December 2021.
www.garda.ie/en/about-us/our-departments/human-resources-and-people-development/garda-hr-directorate/garda-staff-gender-breakdown-civil-service-grades-2013-2021-.pdf
The Deputy will wish to be aware that in the interest of transparency, detailed statistics on Garda workforce numbers, including Garda staff by Division and Station are published on gov.ie and are updated regularly by my Department from information provided by An Garda Síochána. The statistics can be accessed using the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/bd777-an-garda-siochana-your-police-service-some-facts-and-figures/
