Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I assure the Deputy of the existence of funding in respect of community CCTV. The application process is open and I have €1 million at my disposal for local communities. I am anxious to ensure that local public representatives are actively engaged in the provision of this information to local communities and would be happy to assist Deputy Casey in that regard.

As far as Baltinglass is concerned and, in particular, its Garda complement, there is a total of 32 active gardaí in the Baltinglass station and 23 in the west Wicklow town of Blessington. Budget 2018 maintains a high level of investment in the Garda workforce in order to ensure that my target of 21,000 members by 2021 is realised and achieved. A further 800 new Garda recruits will enter the Garda college next year. This will see Garda numbers reach the 14,000 mark by the end of this time next year. I can confirm that as of December 2017 we will achieve the 13,500 mark. A further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skill gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve and a new reserve is expected to commence training early next year.

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