Vol. 406 No. 3
207 Mr. McCartan asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí stationed at the following stations, (a) Howth, Dublin 13, (b) Raheny, Dublin 5 and (c) Coolock, Dublin 15 who have been designated as juvenile liaison officers; the number that are available throughout for active duties; and the proposals which exist for the expansion of this service at each of these stations.
Garda juvenile liaison officers generally operate from district headquarters stations and provide a service on a districtwide basis. I am informed by the Garda authorities that two juvenile liaison officers are assigned to Raheny station which is the district headquarters for Howth station and four to Coolock station. These are operational strengths. The Garda authorities consider that the number of juvenile liaison officers at these stations is adequate at present in the light of their current workload.
As already publicly announced, I have approved a number of significant reforms in the juvenile liaison officer scheme following a review of the scheme carried out by Garda management. These include the establishment of a national juvenile liaison office to oversee the operation of the service throughout the State, reform of the reporting and supervision arrangements for JLOs, flexibility in the period of supervision of youngsters, restoration of weekend working and enhanced training for gardaí assigned to these duties.
