Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The agreement arrived at in 2001 prior to my appointment provided for civilianisation of 496 posts over 20 years, with only 27 to be civilianised between then and now. At my request, 300 surplus posts in the Department of Agriculture and Food are to be transferred to my Department to assist with the civilianisation programme. The first phase took place in recent months with the establishment of the Garda information service centre, GISC, in Castlebar. When fully operational, this centre will employ more than 160 civilian staff. It will be a call centre for PULSE and it will mean gardaí will no longer have to return to their stations to input reports.

The Deputy referred to the numbers of gardaí engaged in IT, human resources and the press office and I share his view that these are not core policing functions. It is my intention to engage with the representative associations on rapidly accelerating the civilianisation process above and beyond the snail's pace agreed with them in 2001. The Deputy stated they have no problem with this. We will see when we sit down with them whether they are agreeable to the acceleration of the programme agreed in 2001, but I agree with the Deputy that this should be done.

With regard to human resources, it is significant that, for the first time, a civilian manager has been recruited in this area by the Garda. Such functions should not be carried out by gardaí. Recruits do not pass through Templemore to become human resources managers or press officers. I look forward to the time most of those positions will be in the hands of civilians and members who currently undertake those functions will be engaged in frontline policing duties. The public wants to see them on the streets.

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