Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

For policing purposes the country is divided into six regions, each of which is commanded by a regional assistant commissioner. The duties of the commissioners are mainly operational and they are responsible for ensuring the operational efficiency of their respective region and, in particular, the quality of operational management exercised by their divisional and district officers. Each region is divided into divisions commanded by a chief superintendent, and each division is then divided into districts commanded by a superintendent, assisted by a number of inspectors. Garda divisions do not necessarily correspond to county boundaries.

The Dublin metropolitan region, DMR, is made up of the six Garda divisions of DMR south central, DMR north central, DMR south, DMR north, DMR west and DMR east. The Dublin metropolitan region extends into parts of counties Wicklow and Kildare. In this regard, the Garda stations in Bray, Greystones and Enniskerry, while within the County of Wicklow, form part of the DMR east region. Leixlip Garda station, which lies within the Kildare county boundary, forms part of the DMR west region.

Any proposal to alter the boundaries of any Garda region is in the first instance a matter for the Garda Commissioner. Under section 22 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, any such proposal must be contained in a draft policing plan for the following year which must be submitted to the Minister for approval. I will carefully consider any such proposal that the Commissioner may submit to me, although I understand that the Commissioner currently has no plans to alter the divisional boundaries within the DMR.

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