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

I must apologise on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Flanagan. He wanted and meant to be here but was delayed at the last minute. I am speaking on his behalf. He is very grateful to the Deputy for raising this matter. He points out at the outset that the distribution of gardaí is exclusively the statutory responsibility of the Garda Commissioner and the Minister has no direct role in the matter.

As the Deputy will be aware, Rathcoole Garda station forms part of the Dublin metropolitan region, DMR, west division. The Minister is informed by the Commissioner that on 30 April 2018, the latest date for which figures are readily available, the strength of the DMR west division was 672, of whom 14 were assigned to Rathcoole Garda station, as the Deputy has already told us. There are also 26 Garda reserves and 55 civilians attached to the division.

The Minister assures the House that the Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order 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 for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021, including 15,000 Garda members. The Minister maintains that real, tangible progress has been made towards this goal. Garda numbers, taking into account projected retirements, increased to 13,551 at the end of 2017, a net increase of over 600 since the end of 2016.

The Deputy will be aware that in 2010 a previous Government closed the Garda College and imposed a moratorium. The measures imposed at that time had a negative impact on Garda numbers across all divisions and the legacy of those decisions continues to have consequences for policing. When it had brought about an early exit from the bailout and stabilised the public finances in September 2014, the then Government reopened the college and since then just under 1,800 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and are performing mainstream duties nationwide. Some 155 of them have been assigned to the DMR west division.

It is important to appreciate that the increased specialisation in An Garda Síochána means the number of gardaí assigned to various divisions does not include those assigned to various special bureaus or units and, of course, those gardaí who are also undertaking critical policing work such as the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the armed support units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau. More than 120 extra gardaí were assigned to the specialist units within special crime operations since 2017 alone.

The Minister is pleased that funding is in place to maintain this high level of investment in the Garda workforce to ensure the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. This year a further 800 new Garda recruits will enter the Garda College, 400 of whom have already done so. In total, 800 Garda trainees are scheduled to attest during the year, 200 of whom attested in March with a further 200 scheduled to attest next month. Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, are on track to reach 14,000 by the end of this year.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Garda Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of gardaí. Undoubtedly, the ongoing recruitment process will support all Garda activities and enhance visibility in our communities. This will enable the Garda Commissioner to provide additional resources across every Garda division, including the DMR, Dublin metropolitan region, west division, as new Garda recruits continue to come on stream.

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