Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy again for raising the issue. As I have already outlined, the Government is committed to ensuring An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs. We had an unprecedented allocation of more than €2.1 billion in budget 2023. Garda numbers are at the highest level with 14,283 members and 3,117 whole-time equivalent Garda staff nationwide as of 31 August. Since the lifting of the moratorium on Garda recruitment in 2014 a total of 4,000 new Garda recruits have attested and been assigned mainstream duties nationwide. I can confirm to the Deputy that the Tipperary division has, as of 31 August, which is the latest date for which figures are available, 399 members of all ranks assigned. This is an increase of more than 12% since the end of 2015 when there were 354 members assigned to the division. In the period from 2017 to 31 August 2022, 875 Garda members have been reassigned to operational roles under a Garda reassignment initiative. A further 306 posts have been identified as suitable for civilian roles and redeployment. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, welcomes the progress, which demonstrates An Garda Síochána's ongoing engagement on the programme for Government commitment to remove gardaí from non-core duties to allow them to focus on policing matters, thereby prioritising visible policing in rural and all communities as the Deputy has mentioned.

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