Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 March 2019
40. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí in each Garda station in the Dublin northern and western divisions as of 1 January 2019; and the number of new recruits assigned to each division since recruitment resumed in 2014. [12003/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, the manner in which the resources of the Garda Síochána are deployed is solely a matter for the Garda Commissioner and his management team and I, as Minister, have no direct role in this regard.
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 advised by the Commissioner that the Garda strength of the D.M.R. North Division and the D.M.R. West Division on 31 January 2019 the latest date for which figures are readily available was 714 and 707 respectively. There are also 40 Garda Reserves and 53 Garda civilian staff attached to the D.M.R. North Division and there are 26 Garda Reserves and 62 Garda civilian staff attached to the D.M.R. West 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 Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.
Since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, almost 2,600 Garda recruits have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, including 200 trainees who passed out from the college just last week.
The Government has increased the budget for An Garda Síochána to €1.76 billion for 2019, which includes provision for the recruitment of up to 800 Gardaí this year. The Commissioner has now informed me that he plans to recruit a total of 600 trainee Gardaí in 2019 and 600 Garda Civilian Staff. This Garda Staff recruitment will allow the Commissioner to redeploy a further 500 fully trained Gardaí from administrative duties to frontline policing in 2019.
I believe that the injection of this large number of experienced officers into the field, along with the new recruits, will be really beneficial in terms of protecting communities. This and on-going recruitment will clearly provide the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí to deliver a visible effective and responsive policing service to communities across all Garda Divisions including the D.M.R. North Division and the D.M.R. West Division.
The Garda strength of the D.M.R. North Division and the D.M.R. West Division from 2009 to 31 January 2019 as provided by the Garda Commissioner is available on my Department’s website through the following link.
www.justice.ie/en/JELR/002_Garda_Numbers_by_Division_District_and_Station_2009_to_31_January_2019.xlsx/Files/002_Garda_Numbers_by_Division_District_and_Station_2009_to_31_January_2019.xlsx.
The information regarding new recruits as provided by the Garda Commissioner, is also available on my Department’s website via the following link.
www.justice.ie/en/JELR/008_Allocation_of_Probationer_Gardaí_by_Division_and_Station_2014_to_January_2019.xlsx/Files/008_Allocation_of_Probationer_Gardaí_by_Division_and_Station_2014_to_January_2019.xlsx.
For more general information on Garda Facts and Figures please see the following link: www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/An_Garda_Siochana_facts_and_figures.
