Garda Civilian Staff Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 November 2017

Wednesday, 29 November 2017

Ceisteanna (215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224)

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

215. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of hiring an additional member of civilian Garda staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51043/17]

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

216. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of hiring 50 additional members of civilian Garda staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51044/17]

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

217. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of hiring one hundred additional members of civilian Garda staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51045/17]

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

218. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of hiring 200 additional members of civilian Garda staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51046/17]

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

219. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of hiring 300 members of civilian Garda staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51047/17]

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

220. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of hiring 400 additional members of civilian Garda staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51048/17]

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

221. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of hiring five hundred additional members of civilian Garda staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51049/17]

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

222. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of hiring six hundred additional members of civilian Garda staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51050/17]

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

223. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of hiring seven hundred additional members of civilian Garda staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51051/17]

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

224. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of hiring 800 additional members of civilian Garda staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51052/17]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Justice and Equality

I propose to take Questions Nos. 215 to 224, inclusive, together.

As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of these resources.

I am informed by the Commissioner that, as of the 31 October 2017, the latest date for which numbers are readily available there were 2,151 full time civilian staff members working throughout the organisation carrying out senior management, administrative and technical roles.  

As part of its Five Year Reform and High-level Workforce Plan for An Garda Síochána, the Government has agreed an overall vision for a Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 to include 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Garda Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. The projected 4,000 civilians will effectively double the current figure and represents a medium-term target of a Garda organisation 20% comprised of civilians.

Additional funding for the recruitment of up to 500 civilians has been provided in Budget 2018 to facilitate the Commissioner in addressing capacity and critical skills gaps across the organisation including in corporate supports, change management, human resources and financial management at the national, regional and Divisional level. These appointments are intended to facilitate deeper civilianisation in the coming years.

The Deputy will appreciate that the cost of recruiting Garda civilian staff in any given year is dependent on the mix of grades involved, however for the purposes of estimating the cost of civilian staff generally, an average figure of €43,000.

On that basis, the following table outlines costings for sample numbers of recruitments and it enables the Deputy to extrapolate the figures for the specific numbers requested by him. 

Number of Garda Civilians to be recruited	Estimated Annual Cost
100	€4,300,000
200	€8,600,000
400	€17,200,000
600	€25,800,000
800	€34,400,000