Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Casey for raising the question. I have, in tabular form, the Wicklow division total, which is 296. The table is included with this reply. If I were to read the entire table into the record, my time would be exhausted. Suffice to say that the districts of Baltinglass, Bray and Wicklow had a total of 296 gardaí as of 31 May 2017.

Last Thursday, we had a passing out parade when a class of 198 trainees attested as members of An Garda Síochána. It is the largest class to attest since the Garda College reopened in 2014. This brings the number of new recruits who have attested since the college reopened to almost 1,200, with another 400 scheduled to attest later this year. This will bring Garda numbers to 13,500 by year-end once projected retirements are taken into account, which is a net increase of 500 over last year. This is progress on reaching our target of 15,000 members by 2021.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources she needs to allow her to deploy increasing numbers of gardaí across every Garda division, including County Wicklow in the coming months and years.

This investment in personnel is complemented by substantial investment in resources across the board for An Garda Síochána. The Deputy will be aware of the significant resource increase that has been made available to An Garda Síochána under the Government's capital plan 2016 to 2021. In particular, some €205 million in additional funding for Garda ICT and €46 million for new Garda vehicles, some of which I am sure are in evidence in County Wicklow, has been allocated over the lifetime of the plan.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

This investment will facilitate the provision of more effective policing services and I have no doubt that these new resources now coming on stream will see an increase in Garda visibility in our communities.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of these resources. I am informed by the Commissioner that 18newly attested gardaí have been assigned to the Wicklow division since the college reopened.

For the Deputy's information, I have set out in tabular form the number of gardaí assigned to the Wicklow division, by station, as of 31 May 2017, the most recent date for which figures are readily available and as provided by the Commissioner.

See this speech in context