Mr. Martin Callinan:

We have made good progress in more recent times on civilianisation. The inspectorate's report shows that at senior command level, perhaps two out seven recommendations have not yet been brought to fruition. That said, work is in progress on bringing about those final two positions. In the wider context, we have over 2,000 civilians now. The employment control framework, ECF, level is 2,074 and we are at approximately 2,031. The moratorium is hampering issues around civilianisation. That said, I can point out that the Garda vetting unit, for example, in Thurles is very heavily populated with a civilian cadre. Of the 80 personnel there, some 75 or so are civilians. In more recent times, command and control, the radio system in Dublin which is based in Harcourt Square, has been hugely civilianised. In the Garda information services centre, GISC, in Castlebar, we imported a number of staff from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine who at the time were being sent to different areas. Many areas of the Garda Síochána are now populated with civilian support.

There is currently, under our transformation programme, an assistant commissioner working on the whole area of civilianisation, and work is at an advanced stage. Typically, what we are trying to do with these reduced numbers and with the indication that the moratorium is likely to be here for some time yet, is to ensure that the skill set within the cadres of civilian members is in the right place at the right time. In other words, we are trying to ensure there is an organisational fit with the individuals. That is work that is long overdue within the organisation. It is exceedingly difficult to go beyond the moratorium at present. We would dearly love to be down around a ratio of 3:1, which is the international norm.