Vol. 409 No. 5
32 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Justice the reason for the decision to remove 63 gardaí from armed detective duty and return them to unarmed uniformed duty; if he has satisfied himself that guidelines for the firing of weapons contained in the Garda green book have been observed in all cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The precise allocation of Garda manpower as between uniformed and plainclothes duty is a matter for the Garda authorities having regard to their assessment of need.
The Garda authorities inform me that aspects of the system of deploying additional gardaí in plainclothes in crime prevention and investigation duties in the Dublin Metropolitan Area are currently under review. As a temporary arrangement, Garda divisional officers in the Dublin Metropolitan Area have been instructed to limit the assignment of members of the uniformed branch to unarmed plainclothes duty to meeting specific needs relating to the control of drug abuse and related offences. I understand that these temporary arrangements have not involved a reduction in the overall number of gardaí employed on detective and other plainclothes duties.
I am satisfied that the use of firearms by members of the Garda Síochána on duty is closely monitored by the Garda authorities to ensure strict adherence to Garda regulations governing the discharge of firearms.
