Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am coming to the answer to the Deputy's question. There are now 14,200 gardaí in An Garda Síochána, which is more than it has had for a very long time, as well as 2,900 Garda staff. I am confident that we will meet our target of 21,000 by 2021. A decision has been made in consultation with the Garda Commissioner, and taking into account the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, to recruit more civilian staff. By doing so, we have been able to move about 500 gardaí who were largely doing administrative-based desk jobs into front-line policing. That is what people want. Instead of the previous approach of taking on more gardaí without reforming the Garda organisation, we are bringing more civilians into the Garda staff, thus freeing up hundreds of gardaí for front-line policing operations. Approximately 500 gardaí have already been freed up in this way. We are ensuring that there are more gardaí on the streets, in vehicles, on bikes and in communities where people want to see them, both by recruiting more gardaí and by reforming the Garda. I support the Commissioner's work on this. Bringing in more civilians will free up gardaí to move into front-line duties, and restructuring the Garda regional structures will result in fewer chiefs and more everyday policemen.

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