Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 3 Oct 2000

Vol. 523 No. 1

Written Answers. - Garda Strength.

Alan Shatter

Ceist:

910 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the total membership of An Garda Síochána as at 1 January 1990, 1 January 1995, 1 January 1997 and 1 January 2000; and the projected numbers as at 31 December 2000. [19962/00]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue):

The total membership of An Garda Síochána, all ranks, as at 1 January 1990, 1995, 1997 and 2000 is as set out hereunder:

Year	Strength
1990	10,472
1995	10,838
1997	10,817
2000	11,458

The projected total membership of An Garda Síochána for 31 December 2000 is 11,669.

Alan Shatter

Ceist:

911 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of gardaí attached to each Garda station within each Garda district in Dublin as at 1 January 1990, 1 January 1995 and 1 January 2000. [19963/00]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue):

The Garda authorities who are responsible for the detailed allocation of personnel to individual areas have informed me that the specific information sought by the Deputy is not readily available in the format requested and could only be obtained by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources.

I am, however, informed that the current personnel strength of each Garda Division in Dublin as at 1 January 1990, 1 January 1995 and 1 January 2000, is as set out hereunder:

	1/1/1990	1/1/1995	1/1/2000
South Central	862	964	793
North Central	482	552	610
South	609	689	476
North	714	761	573
East	422	501	543
West	N/A	N/A	560
Total	3,089	3,467	3,555

I should point out that certain changes affect the figures for the year 2000 compared to 1990 and 1995. The figures for 2000 do not include gardaí assigned to the specialist units based in Harcourt Square which were formerly included in the figures for South Central.

Furthermore an extra division was created – the Dublin Metropolitan Area (DMA) Western Division came into operation after the August bank holiday weekend in 1997. It followed a fundamental review of the policing infrastructure for the DMA which had, up to that time, consisted of five divisions. The reorganisation involved modifications of the then existing divisions and the creation of a new division known as the DMA Western Division which encompassed the Districts of Lucan and Ballyfermot from DMA South and Blanchardstown from DMA North together with an associated movement of staff.

Alan Shatter

Ceist:

912 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of uniformed Garda patrol cars currently operating within each Garda district in Dublin; and the additional patrol cars, if any, made available to each Garda district during the past ten years. [19964/00]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue):

The Garda authorities who are responsible for the detailed allocation of resources to individual areas have informed me that the specific information sought by the Deputy is not readily available in the format requested and could only be obtained by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time and resources. I am, however, informed that the current allocation of cars – per Garda district – in the Dublin Metropolitan Area (DMA) driven by uniformed members is as follows:

District	Current Allocation
DMA East – Blackrock	5
DMA East – Bray	12
DMA East – Dun Laoghaire	9
DMA North – Coolock	9
DMA North – Raheny	9
DMA North – Santry	14
DMA North Central – Bridewell	5
DMA North Central – Fitzgibbon Street	7
DMA North Central – Store Street	10
DMA South – Tallaght	14
DMA South – Crumlin	7
DMA South – Rathmines	5
DMA South Central – Donnybrook	5
DMA South Central – Kevin Street	12
DMA South Central – Pearse Street	11
DMA Traffic – Dublin Castle	11
DMA West – Ballyfermot	8
DMA West – Blanchardstown	19
DMA West – Lucan	7
Total	179

I am also informed by the Garda authorities that there was an increase in uniformed Garda patrol vehicles of 21 during the past three years within the DMA.