An Garda Síochána

Thursday, 5 October 2023

Questions (287, 288)

Niamh Smyth

Question:

287. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí who are out sick at present; the division they are in; if they are on long-term sick leave; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43213/23]

View answer

The following deferred reply was received under Standing Order 51

I refer to Parliamentary Questions No. 287 and 288 of the 5 October 2023 where you sought: “To ask the Minister for Justice the number of Gardaí that are out sick at present; the division they are in; if they are on long term sick leave; and if she will make a statement on the matter.” and,

“To ask the Minister for Justice the number of Gardaí that are on career breaks at present; what division they are on leave from; when they are due back, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter.”

As you will recall, I sought the information you requested from the Garda authorities and undertook to contact you again once the information was to hand.

As you will also appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for all HR matters relating to personnel within An Garda Síochána, including management of sick leave and the approval of career breaks. As Minister, I have no role in these independent functions.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the table below sets out the number of Garda members who are recorded as being on sick leave on the 4 October 2023.

Please note that any figures under 10 have been denoted as * and that Long term sick leave is defined as an absence greater than 28 days.

Division	Number of Garda Members currently absent on sick leave as of 04.10.2023	Number of Garda Members current absent on long term sick leave as of 04.10.2023
Cavan/Monaghan	29	15
Clare/Tipperary	65	43
Commissioners Office	*	*
Cork City	32	14
Cork North	28	20
Cork West	16	13
D.M.R. Eastern	15	*
D.M.R. North Central	30	17
D.M.R. Northern	35	19
D.M.R. South Central	34	19
D.M.R. Southern	21	*
D.M.R. Western	56	35
DMR Traffic Division	*	*
Donegal	40	27
G.N.C.C.B.	*	*
G.N.D.O.C.B.	*	*
G.N.I.B.	*	*
G.N.P.S.B.	*	*
G.N.T.B.	*	*
Galway	32	19
Garda National Technical Bureau	*	*
Human Resource Mgmt.	*	*
Information Technology	*	*
Kerry	29	20
Kildare	26	18
Kilkenny/Carlow	20	*
Laois/Offaly	27	13
Legal Affairs	*	*
Liaison & Protection	*	*
Limerick	44	30
Louth	29	17
Mayo/Roscommon/Longford	71	38
Meath	22	16
Operational Support Unit	*	*
S.T.O.C.	*	*
Security & Intelligence	*	*
Sligo/Leitrim	24	13
Special Detective Unit	*	*
Training & Development	15	*
Waterford	23	12
Westmeath	24	12
Wexford	20	12
Wicklow	15	*
Grand Total	868	508

I am advised that Garda Members may avail of special leave without pay in the form of a career break to a maximum duration of 5 years during their career. Members may apply for a career break for 12 months at a time and can renew their Career Break to a maximum of 5 years. The rules for taking Career breaks are set out in section 12:33 of the Garda code and a career break can be taken for the following reasons:

• Further education.

• Domestic responsibilities.

• Child minding.

• Foreign Travel

While on career break, the member may not, at any time, exercise or attempt to exercise any statutory or common law powers that may be vested in them as a member of An Garda Síochána.

The table below sets out the number of Garda members who are currently on a Career break by Region. I have been advised that it is not possible to provide this information in the format requested by Deputy for Data protection reasons.

Region	Number
DMR	15
East	10
Other Regions	19
Total	44

Niamh Smyth

Question:

288. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí that are on career breaks at present; what division they are on leave from; when they are due back, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43215/23]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Justice

I propose to take Questions Nos. 287 and 288 together.

The information requested by the Deputy is being collated and I will contact the Deputy directly once the information is available.

Question No. 288 answered with Question No. 287.