Vol. 469 No. 2
125 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice the number and proportion of gardaí from the Dublin metropolitan area who have been seconded to Border BSE duties and to EU Presidency duties; and if 24 of these gardaí are attached to stations in the constituency of Dublin North-East. [17144/96]
The Garda authorities are responsible for the detailed allocation of Garda resources and personnel to different areas. They have expressed concern, and I share that concern, about supplying the kind of detailed information relating to Garda personnel sought by the Deputy, on the grounds of security and in the interest of crime prevention generally. I can say that there are 327 gardaí assigned at present to Border duties in connection with the BSE operation, of which 165 members are from the Dublin metropolitan area. This arrangement is kept under constant review.
The Garda authorities inform me that security operations in relation to Ireland's Presidency of the EU are put in place and monitored on an ongoing basis, having regard to the level of meetings taking place, the risk assessment of individual delegates and the itinerary to be followed at any given time.
