Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, to which I will respond on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern.

The Garda college is the national centre for police education and development in this country. It provides a total of 280 training courses, programmes and training interventions annually. In 2010, in excess of 13,000 members of An Garda Síochána participated in programmes at the college. The Garda College provides a significant four-wheel-drive training programme for the organisation, utilising a number of locations throughout the State including Templemore, certain military lands and the site referred to which the Deputy refers. The provision of a dedicated four-wheel-drive training circuit at this site is currently being examined by An Garda Síochána.

The Garda authorities have advised that extensive public order training is provided to members of the force by means of a multi-phase approach. This is done within the student-probationer programme, within divisions for public order teams, at operational command level for inspectors and superintendents and for public order instructors. In addition, the Garda authorities have confirmed that there has been considerable investment in the provision of firearms training facilities for members of the force in recent years. This investment has included the provision of two prefabricated modular firearms ranges, one at the Garda college and the other in the Dublin metropolitan region. These ranges are designed to facilitate live fire shooting in a carefully contained environment which adheres to all range safety requirements.

A number of firearms automated training system units are also utilised by An Garda Síochána. These have proven to be a very successful and have facilitated the development of tactical firearms training as well as traditional marksmanship training in a non-live fire environment. An Garda Síochána also has access to a number of Army ranges.

In late 2006, the Office of Public Works purchased the site referred to by the Deputy on behalf of An Garda Síochána for use as a long-term practical training centre. I am advised by the Garda authorities that plans for the further development of this site are currently being refined by the Office of Public Works. The provision of Garda accommodation, including training facilities, is progressed on the basis of An Garda Síochána's identified accommodation priorities. The further development of this site will be progressed on the basis of these priorities and in the context of available resources. The Garda authorities have reported that, in the interim, use will continue to be made of the site to facilitate training.

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