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Garda Data

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 February 2018

Thursday, 15 February 2018

Ceisteanna (155)

Catherine Murphy

Ceist:

155. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí in County Kildare by division, district and rank; the number of Garda vehicles based full-time in County Kildare, by vehicle type, division and-or district; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7943/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel and vehicles, 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.

The Garda strength of the Kildare Division on 31 December 2017 was 360 with 20 Garda Reserves and 30 Garda civilian staff attached to the Division. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

As the Deputy will be aware, this Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and to deter crime. To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, just under 1,600 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, of whom 80 have been assigned to the Kildare Division. I am pleased to say that Garda numbers, taking account of retirements, increased to 13,551 at the end of 2017 - a net increase of over 600 since the end of 2016.

I am also pleased that funding is in place to maintain this high level of investment in the Garda workforce to ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. This year a further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College. Also 800 Garda trainees are scheduled to attest during the year which will see Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, reach 14,000 by the end of 2018.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Division, including the Kildare Division.

The investment in personnel I have outlined is complemented by substantial investment in resources across the board for An Garda Síochána. The Capital Plan 2016 – 2021 provides for an investment of €46 million the Garda fleet to ensure that An Garda Síochána has a modern, effective and fit for purpose fleet. This is in addition to the investment of almost €30 million in the period 2013 to 2015.

In the period 2013 to end of 2017 almost €44 million will have been invested in the fleet with some 2,000 vehicles coming on stream in that period.

For the Deputy’s information the following tables set out the number of Gardaí attached to the Kildare Division on 31 December 2017 and the number of Garda vehicles allocated to the Kildare Divisional fleet as of 14 February 2018.

Kildare Divisional Fleet as on 14 February 2018

-

Cars

Vans

Motorcycles

4 x 4

Others

Total

Marked

Unmarked

Marked

Unmarked

KILDARE DISTRICT

11

9

3

0

0

2

1

26

LEIXLIP DISTRICT

4

5

2

0

0

0

0

11

NAAS DISTRICT

8

5

4

2

2

1

0

22

DIVISIONAL TOTAL

23

19

9

2

2

3

1

59

STRENGTH OF THE KILDARE DIVISION 31 DECEMBER 2017

DISTRICT

STATION

GD

SG

IN

SU

CS

TOTAL

KILDARE

ATHY

26

3

1

30

CASTLEDERMOT

3

1

4

KILDARE

30

6

1

1

38

MONASTEREVIN

4

1

5

NEWBRIDGE

46

6

52

RATHANGAN

2

1

3

TOTAL

111

18

2

1

132

LEIXLIP

CARBURY

6

1

7

CELBRIDGE

10

1

11

KILCOCK

9

1

10

LEIXLIP

48

8

2

1

59

MAYNOOTH

12

1

13

TOTAL

85

12

2

1

100

NAAS

CLANE

6

1

7

KILCULLEN

1

1

NAAS

100

14

2

1

1

118

ROBERTSTOWN

2

2

TOTAL

109

15

2

1

1

128

KILDARE TOTAL

305

45

6

3

1

360

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