Dáil debates

Thursday, 15 January 2015

10:30 am

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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10. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will address issues such as any reduction in Garda strength arising from the economic downturn in the coming year; her plans to address the most pressing cases where crime rates are a particular concern; if she is satisfied regarding the availability of the necessary resources to deal with such issues; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1274/15]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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This question seeks to ascertain the extent to which the Minister hopes to enhance Garda strength in all areas throughout the country, with particular reference to areas that have shown an increase in crime of various forms.

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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One of my priorities is to maintain and enhance the capacity of An Garda Síochána to protect the public, and in particular to prevent and detect crime. It is true that Garda strength has been affected by retirements and that is why I was pleased to be able to secure approval from this Government for the resumption of Garda recruitment. One hundred new recruits entered training at the Garda College in Templemore in September 2014, the first intake of Garda recruits since 2009. This is as a direct result of the improved economic situation which has allowed recruitment to take place. A further 100 new recruits entered in December and a further intake of 100 is due to enter training at the end of this month. This will bring to 300 the number of recruits in the Garda College since last September and is a measure of Fine Gael and Labour's commitment to An Garda Síochána. The first intake of recruits will attest as members of An Garda Síochána in May of this year and they will be assigned to Garda stations by the Garda Commissioner. In my reply to the previous question I spoke about the increased budgetary allocation for modern, fit-for-purpose vehicles which are of significant importance to the work of An Garda Síochána. We are also providing an additional €7 million for this purpose in 2014 and €3 million in 2015, to allow the procurement and fit-out of approximately 400 new Garda vehicles. These vehicles will come on stream in the coming weeks.

It is a key objective of the Garda Commissioner to allocate all of the resources at her disposal in a manner which maximises their impact on the protection of the public and on the prevention and detection of crime. In that context, Garda management keeps under continuing review developments in relation to security assessments, crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure the best possible use of resources. This is an issue for the Garda Commissioner. The Garda Síochána Inspectorate report made the point that there needs to be more attention paid to the allocation of gardaí, depending on crime trends in a given area, on the changing population in an area and whether an area has changed from a rural to a more urbanised area. These considerations must inform where police are deployed during a particular period.

Based on concerns expressed by various Deputies, I have asked the Garda Commissioner to ensure the allocation of policing is subject to continuous review, because priorities change. I commend the Garda authorities on the implementation of Operation Fiacla, which began in 2012. It was a national operation to tackle mobile gangs who were moving around and committing crimes throughout the country. This led to 11,405 arrests, and 6,549 people have been charged as a result of this operation by An Garda Síochána. Perhaps we do not pay enough attention to this type of work and the outcome of these operations. This very specific operation had a good outcome.

10:40 am

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply. Does she think it might be possible, in further deployments of gardaí throughout the country, to take account of the specific levels of crime in particular areas when enhancing the strength of various Garda divisions? Might it be possible to focus on the extent to which the counties and areas adjoining Dublin seem to be at the mercy of criminals in recent times to a far greater extent than the average throughout the country? This is due to a number of factors, including mobility and motorways. To take County Kildare as an example, the reduction in the number of gardaí in stations in recent years seems to have led to an increase in crime. Would it be possible to address these particular issues when deployments take place?

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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At present, a total of 301 gardaí serve in the Kildare area. The Deputy outlined very clearly that one of the increasing issues with regard to crime in this country is that mobile gangs use very good transport links to facilitate crime by moving in and out of an area quickly, committing a series of crimes there. The Garda is very aware of this issue and is working to address it. A number of the initiatives it has undertaken in recent years and months, such as Operation Fiacla, to which I referred, are being used specifically to target the very point made by the Deputy. I agree with him that the allocation of Garda resources must be linked to the amount of crime in a particular area. This has not been done as effectively in the past as it needs to be now. A key point outlined in the Garda Inspectorate report in terms of the allocation of gardaí to particular areas is that it ought to be linked to population, crime figures and the threats in a particular area, whether urban or rural.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Are the best internationally accepted police practices being made available to An Garda Síochána at present? These include the ability to alert a large number of the force at short notice to respond to a particular situation that might arise. Internationally, this has become more common than it was in the past. I am anxious to know the situation.

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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I want to draw the attention of the Minister to the fact that in the past week the Garda Representative Association, GRA, issued a serious statement with regard to Donegal. It is concerned about staffing issues in the county. Gardaí based in rural areas are being drafted to Letterkenny, which is the main town in the county. In fairness, for operational reasons the GRA has not identified the locations, but it states that some rural Garda stations have no gardaí because they have been drafted into Letterkenny. There is clearly a massive issue. It also states that in some parts of the county Garda numbers have been reduced by 25%. Will the Minister examine the situation in Donegal and speak to the Garda Commissioner about what is happening there?

Photo of Anthony LawlorAnthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for the fact that gardaí are being recruited once more. As has my colleague, I met the Deputy Commissioner in the past and stressed the importance of Garda numbers in Kildare. While resources are just sufficient at present, they are at stretching point. Many retirements have taken place. We seem to find it difficult to get gardaí to transfer to Kildare because each Garda division seems to hold on to its allocation. I would appreciate if the Minister would speak to the Commissioner about the point my colleagues have made with regard to the number of gardaí and the allocation of gardaí, particularly in Kildare.

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The key point I make with regard to the issues raised by the Deputies is that clearly the economic situation we inherited had an impact in that gardaí were not recruited. This is the bottom line. The situations outlined by the Deputies were a direct result of the economic situation in which the country found itself. Due to the actions of the Government we are in a far better economic situation at present, although we have more work to do. This has allowed the Government to take the decision to begin recruitment again, which will be the first recruitment since 2009. I emphasise this. We have already recruited 200 extra gardaí and another 100 will start in Templemore. The situation will be kept under review, depending on the number of Garda retirements and the needs of An Garda Síochána.

I could speak about different areas, and Deputies will be particularly sensitive to the situation in their own area, but the overall situation is being improved by the recruitment of new gardaí. This means the Garda Commissioner can take the types of operational decision that Deputies Durkan and Lawlor from County Kildare have highlighted, which also relates to the point made by Deputy Mac Lochlainn. The best operational decisions can be taken by the Garda Commissioner if she has more resources at her disposal.

I have already stated that we are examining the IT requirements of the Garda. We want to see more efficient deployment of the resources we have. I have the support of the Minister, Deputy Howlin, to examine the technological needs of An Garda Síochána, which have been outlined by the Garda Inspectorate. All of these actions are designed to ensure we have more effective policing in every county in Ireland and that citizens are protected in a more comprehensive way. This is the goal of the Government and it is what we are working towards. The combination of initiatives we are taking on the recruitment of gardaí, the changes to IT and implementing the Garda Inspectorate report will ensure a better and more efficient service locally and that crime will be detected and citizens kept safe. This is the goal of the Government and it will be the result of the actions we are taking.

Written Answers follow Adjournment.