Mr. Cyril Dunne:

I reiterate the Commissioner's point by emphasising that there is no spreadsheet that will take inputs and give out an automated answer as to what the number of gardaí in any particular division should be. Such a thing does not exist. We do look at crime statistics, but we are much more focused on overall workload. In fact, strategically, we are far more focused on crime prevention rather than resolving crimes after they are committed. We certainly take crime statistics into account, but also things like the average time to conduct an investigation, number of calls from the general public on an ongoing basis and so on. All of those inputs go into the consideration of the workload of a particular division.

On the socioeconomic side, a lot of it is down to housing density and population density. As the Commissioner explained, these factors shift over time but not on a weekly or monthly basis; it is a much more general shift. Historically, my colleague Mr. Twomey has been responsible for the Dublin metropolitan region, and he would tell the Deputy that a lot of the crime that happens in Dublin is not based around, or cannot be measured around, the numbers of people living in the city, because a lot of people travel in and out of it. To reiterate, there is no spreadsheet that will give us an answer in this regard.

Another issue of which we must take cognisance is that there is a minimum establishment in any particular division. In other words, there is a level that is required just to keep the lights on, for want of a better way of putting it. That has to be factored in as well. We must measure the proper allocation of resources, taking into account that minimum.

The final major input into the allocation model is the requirement for proper and effective training for new gardaí as they come into the organisation. It is not just a matter of putting new recruits through Templemore for a number of months and then landing them on the community. Rather, we put new gardaí into specific stations where we have the resources to give them the assisted training and oversights that are required and where there is the capacity to monitor them when they become more autonomous. We are guided in that by the requirements from the Garda College.

All of these factors go into the allocation model. Having said that, we do actually use a spreadsheet. We get the numbers in, but it is only the start of the process. After that, it is really down to the senior operational management to oversee the particular issues that apply in given divisions. That is the best way I can describe it.