Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, I thank the Deputy for raising this matter of significant public importance. Unfortunately, the Minister cannot be here to respond to this issue as he is attending a Garda Reserve graduation in Templemore.

The Deputy will be aware that the Commissioner is responsible for the allocation throughout the organisation of resources, including personnel, transport and other facilities. The Minister has no function in this matter. The allocation of resources is constantly monitored by the Commissioner and his senior management in the context of demographics, crime trends, policing needs and other operational strategies in place on a district, division and regional basis to ensure optimum use is made of Garda resources.

Today, the Minister announced the opening of a recruitment campaign for new recruits to An Garda Síochána. It is four years since recruitment last took place. The Minister is delighted to be in a position to provide for the recruitment of new members to An Garda Síochána. Following a difficult time for our economy it is a huge positive that we can begin again to take new members into the force. It is expected that the new recruits will enter the Garda college in mid-2014, when they will embark on a progressive new training course. The new course has been developed to reflect the current policing environment and will better equip Garda members for the reality of life on our streets. It will also allow for attestation of members after 32 weeks, following which they will assigned to Garda stations with full policing powers. It is the Minister's declared intention to retain Garda numbers at 13,000. This will be bolstered by the current recruitment campaign.

It is the Minister's declared intention to retain Garda numbers at 13,000 and this will be bolstered by this recruitment campaign.

In the Donegal Garda division there have been several serious incidents and high-profile aggravated burglaries on elderly victims along the Border area in during 2013. Operation Liath was introduced within Donegal division in January 2013 as an operational strategy to improve public safety and enhance the effectiveness of high-visibility police resources within the division. This operation in Donegal is running in conjunction with national operations such as Operation Fiacla and other Garda operations in existence to combat criminality within the Donegal division. The main focus of this ongoing operation is to disrupt and prevent criminality against older persons within the community, to apprehend suspects in the commission and the attempted commission of offences and to fully investigate detect and prosecute any offences outstanding against those suspects and groups. This will be achieved through a focused, targeted and co-ordinated approach by An Garda Síochána.

The objectives of the operation are being addressed through intelligence-led patrols, checkpoints, continued liaison between An Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, intelligence gathering and the continued support and rejuvenation of neighbourhood watch and community alert schemes. The Commissioner has informed the Minister that there are 412 gardaí, 29 garda reserves and 28 civilian staff assigned to the Donegal division. These resources are further augmented, where necessary, by several Garda national units, including the Garda traffic unit, the Garda national drugs unit, the national bureau of criminal investigation, the criminal assets bureau and other specialised units. The Minister is determined that the resources of an Garda Síochána will be used in the most effective and efficient way and that the best possible service is provided to the public. The Minister is confident that the primary Garda objective of combating crime will continue to be achieved and that, despite the pressure on the public finances, it will be possible for the force to operate to the optimum benefit of our communities in a manner that will facilitate the prevention and detection of offences.

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