Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The table I made available to Deputy Murphy details the current state of play in Roscommon and Galway. I thank him for raising this issue. I agree with him on the reduction in the Garda Reserve. I very much regret the substantial reduction in the strength of the reserve in recent years from a peak of 1,164 in 2013 to 542 on 31 August 2018. The fall-off arises from a range of factors, not least of which was the lifting in 2014 of the moratorium on the recruitment of trainee gardaí which has affected the number of reserves in a couple of ways. Several serving reserves successfully applied to become members of An Garda Síochána and the Public Appointments Service has focused on delivering an accelerated programme of recruitment of full-time members. However, I am very keen to ensure the importance of the Garda Reserve and also want to see an acceleration of the pace of civilians undertaking administrative and technical duties within An Garda Síochána I am very keen that by the end of 2021 we will have 4,000 civilian members in An Garda Síochána because I wish to release gardaí, many of whom are currently doing desk duties, onto the beat.

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