Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Lawless for raising this important issue and apologise on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality who cannot be in the Chamber to respond to the Deputy directly.

The Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and deter crime. To make this a reality for all, the Government has in place a plan to achieve an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021, comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 reserve members and 4,000 civilians. Funding has been provided for the recruitment of 800 Garda recruits and up to 500 civilians in 2017 to support the wide-ranging reform plan in train in An Garda Síochána, and 300 appointments will also be made to the Garda Reserve.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda divisions, and the Tánaiste has no direct role in the matter. The Tánaiste is informed by the Garda Commissioner that in regard to the deployment of Garda personnel, a distribution model is used which takes into account all relevant factors, including population, crime trends and the policing needs of each individual Garda division, including the Kildare division, with a view to providing an effective and responsive police service.

As of 31 October 2016, the latest date for which figures are readily available, there were 307 members of An Garda Síochána assigned to the Kildare division, supported by 22 members of the Garda Reserve and 29 civilian staff. When appropriate, the work of local gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the national bureau of criminal investigation, the Garda national economic crime bureau and the Garda national drugs and organised crime bureau. Local Garda management in Kildare have also implemented additional policing measures in response to recent incidents in the division, including additional Garda foot patrols, checkpoints and patrols by the regional support unit.

The Tánaiste recently met a group of local public representatives from Kildare and listened carefully to their concerns about crime and policing. She is happy to highlight particular matters of local concern for attention by the Garda authorities.

Taking account of projected retirements, reaching a strength of 15,000 will require 3,200 new Garda members to be recruited on a phased basis over the next four years in addition to the 1,200 that will have been recruited by the end of this year since the reopening of the Garda College in Templemore in September 2014. Since the reopening of the Garda College, 679 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána, of whom 35 have been assigned to the Kildare division.

The Government’s plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 is complemented by substantial investment in resources across the board for An Garda Síochána. The Deputy will be aware of the significant resources that have been made available to An Garda Síochána under the Government’s capital plan 2016-2021. In particular, some €205 million in additional funding for Garda information and communications technology, ICT, and €46 million for new Garda vehicles has been allocated over the lifetime of the plan. This investment will facilitate the provision of more effective policing services and the Tánaiste expects that the Kildare division, like all other Garda divisions, will benefit from these new resources becoming available.

I refer to the incident that took place in Maynooth on 20 November which the Deputy raised. In recent days, gardaí have renewed their appeal for information on the very serious assault of a university student in Maynooth. They are appealing for witnesses and anyone with information, particularly those who were in the vicinity of Maynooth between 7.30 p.m. and 9.15 p.m. on Sunday, 20 November 2016, to contact the incident room in Leixlip Garda station on 01 666 7800, the Garda confidential telephone line, 1800 666 111, or any Garda station. The Tánaiste recognises that this was a very serious incident and asks that if anyone has any information on it-----

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