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

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I apologise on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality who is spending a good deal of time in the Seanad dealing with the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill. He asked me to stand in for him because he was unsure whether he would be able to make it and did not wish to delay proceedings. He has asked me to reiterate to the House that the deployment of Garda resources, including personnel, to specific areas is solely the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner and his management team. I imagine the Deputy appreciates this and that we can all appreciate we cannot interfere with that decision in any way.

The Commissioner has spoken publicly about issues such as protecting the most vulnerable. He has highlighted that his priority is a policing model that will provide the best outcomes for communities. The distribution of Garda resources is constantly monitored and a distribution model is used that takes into account all relevant factors, including population, crime trends and overall policing needs at local level. It is then a matter for the divisional chief superintendent to determine the optimum distribution of duties among the personnel available to him or her, having regard to the profile of the area and its specific needs. This applies equally in both rural and urban areas. I imagine the Commissioner and his management team will be noting what is said in this debate in the Chamber.

I emphasise that is not appropriate to simply determine the allocation of Garda resources on the basis of population size alone. This fails to take account of, among other things, the fact that crime levels and types can vary significantly in communities of similar population size. The Deputy will appreciate that an increase in the opening hours of any Garda station would necessitate the deployment of additional Garda personnel to indoor administrative duties. These gardaí may be employed more effectively on outdoor policing duties. The Deputy alluded to this point in his contribution.

The Minister has advised that the matter of opening hours of sub-district stations is subject to continual review and alteration by Garda management in the context of policing priorities and the resources available. The Commissioner has informed the Minister that on 31 January, the latest date for which figures are readily available, the strength of the Cork city division was 703, with 128 gardaí assigned to the Togher Garda district. There are also 38 Garda reserves and 80 civilians attached to the division. When appropriate, the work of local gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units 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.

Since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, almost 2,400 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide. A total of 62 were assigned to the Cork city division, including 15 probationer gardaí assigned to Togher Garda station. The Commissioner has informed the Minister that it is his intention to recruit a total of 600 trainee gardaí in 2019, with a net total of 600 Garda staff. The recruitment of the additional Garda staff will allow the Commissioner to redeploy this year a further 500 fully trained gardaí from administrative duties to the front-line duties for which they were trained. The injection of this large number of experienced officers into the field, with the new recruits, will be beneficial in protecting communities.

The Commissioner has been provided with an additional €100 million in 2019, bringing his total budget to almost €1.8 billion. This substantial investment will allow the accelerated recruitment programme to continue in tandem with the deployment of new and leading edge technology to support front-line gardaí in carrying out their work in delivering a visible, effective and responsive police service to communities across all Garda divisions, including the Cork city division in 2019 and beyond.

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