Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I generally support the idea of civilianising basic administrative functions, some of which are currently undertaken by members of An Garda Síochána, and the issue forms part of the review. As Minister for Justice and Equality, I have an obligation to reduce expenditure. We must be careful that as garda numbers decrease in line with our EU-IMF commitment, we do not spend almost as much recruiting large numbers of civilians to undertake administrative tasks. There is a balance to be maintained and operational decisions must be made by the Garda Commissioner. The Deputy can assume it is my view and that of the Government that gardaí should be placed as frequently as possible in positions in which they can utilise their training and provide the front-line policing services required. We should not have members of the Garda force unnecessarily working on administrative tasks in a back office if such tasks could well be undertaken by civilians.

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