asked the Minister for Justice if he will give details of the amount which will be spent on Garda overtime this year in comparison with last year; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
49.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Garda Overtime.
4.
asked the Minister for Justice if he will make a statement on the adequacy of manning levels in the Garda Síochána, indicating his policy on the working of overtime by members of the force.
I propose to take Question No. 4 and Priority Question No. 49 together.
The provision in the Garda Síochána Vote for overtime this year is £10 million, as compared with expenditure of £13.4 million in 1986. The 1986 figure reflects a very high level of overtime in the first four months of the year, but a review of overtime expenditure and a general re-appraisal of Garda deployment carried out by the Garda authorities in May of last year resulted in the introduction of changes in the use of resources which brought about a significant reduction in the rate of overtime expenditure over the rest of the year.
As regards this year's overtime allocation, the Garda authorities are monitoring the position very closely and are taking the necessary measures to ensure that all essential policing duties are catered for within the limits of the funds allocated. I must strongly make the point that the level of overtime provided for in the Garda Vote should not come to be regarded as a valid measure of the total Garda service available to the community. It should be borne in mind that the vast bulk of Garda duties are performed during ordinary, rostered hours of duty and not on overtime.
The manning levels in the Garda Síochána must be looked at in the context of a number of considerations. These include the very substantial increase in the strength of the force which has taken place in recent years, the new and improved technology which has been made available to the force, the welcome signs that the escalation in crime has been at least brought under control and, of course, the limitations imposed by the realities of our present economic situation. Taking all of these matters into account, it is considered that existing Garda manning levels are adequate to meet current requirements. Of course the matter will be kept under constant review.
Does the very high level of overtime payments made last year — though there appears to be a slight reduction this year — indicate that the manning levels within the force are adequate? Would the Minister say whether a cost-benefit analysis has ever been done to determine whether overtime costs are more expensive, or whether it might be more economical to increase recruitment? Is it the Minister's intention to re-deploy personnel within the public service, within the Department of Justice, to carry out administrative duties, thereby releasing gardaí for patrol and other active duties?
To the best of my knowledge I do not think a cost-benefit analysis has been undertaken. It is something that is important, something that has been brought to my attention in recent times, something to which I have given consideration to ensure that we get a proper return for the moneys involved. The argument has been advanced publicly that we are not. This deserves very serious consideration. With regard to the redeployment of personnel, as I said in my reply, in May of last year, when the Garda authorities carried out a review of overtime expenditure and a general reappraisal of Garda deployment they introduced some changes with regard to the use of resources which resulted in a worthwhile reduction in the rate of overtime expenditure for the remainder of the year. Those changes in methods benefit us considerably and they are still in operation.
The overtime expenditure for the current year is based on improvements in operations brought about last May. With regard to redeployment of personnel from the Department of Justice, as the Deputy knows, the public service embargo extends to that Department. We have not available to us sufficient personnel but if we had, we could take more gardaí from behind desks and put them on the street. At present there are 580 members of the force working at desk jobs and it is estimated that at least 180 of those could be replaced by civilian personnel.
I do not know how the embargo on the public service enters into this matter. My question was directed towards redeploying people within the Department to take over administrative duties and thereby relieve gardaí for patrol duties. My question had nothing to do with taking on new personnel into the system.
I accept that.
(Limerick East): No doubt the Minister is aware that the cost of overtime for the Garda Síochána during an election or a referendum is approximately £750,000. When the Estimate was drawn up there was no intention of having a referendum on the Single European Act. Will the extra cost of £750,000 in overtime be contained within the Estimate of £10 million or is it the intention of the Government to introduce a Supplementary Estimate to increase this figure by approximately 8 or 9 per cent to cover this cost? My second question relates also to overtime. As the Minister is aware, it has been the practice in Garda stations in Cork, Dublin and Limerick that members of the force parade approximately 20 minutes before commencing roster duty. This is paid for out of overtime money and is part of the large amount of in-built overtime in the force. Will the Minister confirm that he has made a decision to end this practice, that there will now be no parade time before duty commences, that there will be no overtime payment for parade time?
With regard to the first part of the Deputy's question there has been always some unexpected event which has a cost factor as far as Garda involvement is concerned. It happens to be a referendum this year; it could have been something else last year and the year before. The Garda authorities are very conscious of the fact that the Government have decided that the ceiling of overtime for the present year is £10 million. There is no way I can tell the Deputy that more money will be available because that cannot be. With regard to the in-built overtime to which Deputy Noonan referred, a certain percentage of the amount of money available for that overtime is paid to only certain sections of the force for the ten or 15 minutes parading time in Garda stations in urban areas before the gardaí go on duty. This has been an established practice during the years and before I or anybody in my position make decisions to change that practice as Deputy Noonan should know well, there would have to be consultation with the Garda associations to see what could be done about the matter. I cannot confirm anything on this for the Deputy at present.
(Limerick East): Has such a decision been made yet?
No decision in this regard has been taken.
Will the Minister agree that the manning levels and the overtime in the Garda Síochána are needed no less now than they were needed during the time of the previous Government? Will he agree that the spokesman for Justice in the Fianna Fáil Opposition made great play about the shortcomings in the manning levels and overtime in the Garda Síochána? The Minister's decision on the Estimates are directly contrary to the stated policy of the Fianna Fáil Party in Opposition and in the run up to the election.
Times have changed.
I might suggest to the Deputy that he supported a Government in 1983 who provided about the same amount of money for Garda overtime.
We are talking about what the Minister is doing. I am asking him to comment on the present position of the Government, the allocation he has made and the needs that arise now so that people, as stated on Fianna Fáil hoardings, can walk the streets and sit in their homes in peace and safety. I am asking the Minister to comment on that and to tell us what he is doing about it. What has he done up to now other than cut the allocations even further?
I am quite satisfied that with the existing moneys available to the Department of Justice for the Garda Síochána Vote we will have proper, acceptable and efficient levels of manning.