David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, who regrets that he cannot attend this evening, I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter.

The Government is determined that the Garda will have the resources it needs to tackle to tackle all forms of criminality in our communities. The Deputy will appreciate that it is the Garda Commissioner and her management team who are responsible for the distribution of Garda resources, including personnel, among the various Garda divisions and the Minister has no direct role in the matter. However, the Minister is informed by the Garda Commissioner that arrangements are currently in place with detective personnel to ensure the capacity and capability of An Garda Síochána to respond to an armed or critical incident in Cork city and its environs on a 24-7 basis.

Armed response units were established on a regional basis to provide an armed response capacity and capability on a regional basis and in support of and to supplement the national emergency response unit.

Members of the armed response units are highly trained and equipped with a variety of non-lethal and lethal weapons and perform high-visibility armed checkpoints and patrols throughout their respective regions. In the event of an armed incident or similar outrage, armed detective members from local district and divisional units will respond, as will the armed response units, which are based in each Garda region. Should the incident be escalated and further armed support be required, the Garda emergency response unit is also available and its members are also highly trained and specially equipped to respond to the most serious incident or terrorist threat.

In order to ensure and maintain the capability and capacity of armed support units, a competition to select, train and allocate additional personnel for the regional armed response units outside the Dublin metropolitan region has recently been commenced. In the interim, the Minister has been advised that tactical awareness training, including the provision of equipment, is ongoing in the southern region for detective Garda personnel. The Minister has been advised that discussions are ongoing with the relevant authorities for the training of the next tranche of identified personnel, which is expected to commence shortly.

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