Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan:

Members will appreciate that a number of points have been raised. I will ask Mr. Culhane to deal with the fleet issues. Mr. Dunne will give the detail of the cohort model. In the interests of time, we could provide committee members with further detail later.

I will comment on our workforce planning model at a high level. As Deputy Alan Farrell has rightly said, in recent years An Garda Síochána has seen significant reductions which have impacted on a number of areas. In a general sense, the factors we consider include crime statistics. Recorded crime in a given area will be a factor. The number of personnel currently allocated to a given area is another. We also consider the demographics of personnel in our workforce planning. For example, in succession planning we consider whether there are members who are due to retire or if there more junior members in particular areas. We try to have the right mix of skills and experience. That is our objective.

Another aspect is population statistics. In recent years there has also been a shift in population statistics, particularly in areas outside urban centres.

That is another factor we take into account.

The model we use is quite comprehensive. However, there is no police force anywhere that has managed to take everything into account, because both crime and police work are very demand-driven. It is about making sure we have the best and most effective use of the resources available to us in a particular area, taking into account socioeconomic factors, crime statistics, population statistics and the demographic of the gardaí allocated there. It is particularly helpful to us that by next year we will have 1,150 new members in training. Those members will be allocated based on the factors I outlined. It is very helpful to us to have that in place.

In terms of workforce planning in the context of our allocation model, other factors we consider include, for example, the number of female members we have and the number of members who may be abstracted at any given time, whether because they are on training courses, have suffered an injury on duty or are availing of entitlements such as maternity leave. We try to factor in those considerations in so far as it is possible to do so. I ask my colleague, Mr. Dunne, to comment in more detail on this.