Catherine Murphy
Ceist:544. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the number of gardaí by rank attached to the street crime unit in the Dublin metropolitan region as of 6 September 2021. [43407/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraWednesday, 15 September 2021
Ceisteanna (544)
Freagraí scríofa
As the Deputy will appreciate, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, which includes the deployment of members of An Garda Síochána throughout the State. As Minister, I have no role in this independent function.
I can inform the Deputy that all members of An Garda Síochána are tasked with enforcing all legislation pertaining to street crime. There is no specific designation of Street Crime Units within the organisation of An Garda Síochána. Garda units can be established locally to address specific matters relating to local crime trends and criminal activity. Such units can operate either in uniform or in plain clothes. These units include Burglary Response Units, Crime Task Force, District Detective Unit, Drugs Units and Street Crime Units.
The table below sets out the number of Gardaí assigned to street crime units in the DMR.
|
DIVISION |
SERGEANT |
GARDA |
|
DMR NORTH |
1 |
5 |
|
DMR SOUTH |
NIL |
|
|
DMR EAST |
NIL |
|
|
DMR WEST |
1 |
4 |
|
DMR SOUTH CENTRAL |
1 |
10 |
|
DMR NORTH CENTRAL |
3 |
24 |
|
TOTAL |
6 |
43 |
The Deputy may also be aware that Operation Spire and Operation Pier are concentrated within Dublin City Centre through the DMR South Central and North Central Divisions. These operations form the basis of a regional response to city centre street-level drug dealing and possession of drugs with members performing dedicated patrols in areas known to have a high concentration of such issues. Some key areas targeted are those that have a significant nightlife economy. Both operations are undertaken by uniformed and plain-clothes members on a full-time basis, with the objective to investigate, detect, prevent and prosecute criminal offences committed under the Misuse of Drugs Act. A large proportion of these operations focuses on high-visibility and pro-active policing and engagement with the residential and business communities.
For the Deputy's further information, the table below has been provided to me by the Garda authorities and sets out the number of Gardaí assigned to the DMR at 31 August 2021.
Detailed information in relation to Garda numbers is available on my Department’s website. This information is updated every month with the latest data provided by An Garda Síochána, and includes the number of Gardaí by station across the whole country.
The information can be found at the following link:
http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/An_Garda_Siochana_facts_and_figures