Dáil debates
Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
An Garda Síochána
9:20 pm
Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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47. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the current number of gardaí in north Kildare; and the number in each of the past five years, in tabular form. [54635/23]
Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Minister for Justice for the current number of gardaí in north Kildare over the past five years in tabular form, and if she could include in that the new recruits who will be passing out before Christmas and coming to Kildare.
James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities, and a strengthened, well-resourced An Garda Síochána is central to this policy. While the Garda Commissioner is operationally responsible for the allocation of Garda resources, we engage regularly with him to ensure our gardaí have the resources they need.
The unprecedented allocation of in excess of €2.3 billion to An Garda Síochána for 2024 will allow for sustained recruitment of between 800 to 1,000 new Garda recruits in 2024. As of the end of October 2023, there were 428 Garda members assigned to the Kildare division, which is an increase of more than 12% since the end of December 2018, when there were 380 gardaí in the division. The current total includes 152 members assigned to the Kildare district, 110 assigned to the Leixlip district and 166 members assigned to the Naas district. Since 2015, 183 probationer gardaí have been assigned to the Kildare Garda division and that includes six so far in 2023. In addition, there are 32 Garda staff members assigned to the Kildare division. Garda staff provide vital administrative support and help free up Garda members to focus on front-line duties.
Roll-out by the Garda Commissioner of the new Garda operating model is continuing and meets a key recommendation of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. The model is designed to make changes to the structures of An Garda Síochána to provide for more front-line gardaí, increased Garda visibility and a wider range of policing services for people in their local area.
Coupled with the continued roll-out of the new operating model, which is in the process of being rolled out in counties Kildare and Carlow, I am confident that the Commissioner will have the resources and plans in place to continue to deliver on An Garda Síochána's mission of keeping people safe.
Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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The reason I asked is that in Kildare, my constituents really want to know this. Kildare used to be the county with the lowest number of gardaí per head of population. We have now been passed out by Meath. Kildare is now the second worst. Communities need gardaí, and they need to see gardaí out and about.
Does the Minister of State have figures for how many gardaí in Kildare were deployed to Dublin on that awful Thursday night, 23 November? There is a real concern that new gardaí that do come to Kildare might be sent to Dublin as some kind of a sop in the hope that it will get the Minister for Justice, and indeed the Garda Commissioner, off the hook, while in Kildare we desperately need more gardaí. We need them to be visible. Only two of the Garda stations in north Kildare, Leixlip and Naas, are full-time stations, while Kilcock, Maynooth, Celbridge and Clane are all part-time stations. We really need to have enough gardaí in Kildare.
James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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While I have no direct role in the assignment of gardaí or any Garda resource, I am assured by the Garda Commissioner that personnel assigned throughout the country, together with the overall policing arrangements and operational strategies, are continuously monitored and reviewed. Such monitoring ensures the optimum use is made of resources and the best possible policing service is provided to the general public.
With regard to the deployment of Garda personnel, a distribution model is used that takes into account all of the relevant factors, including population, crime trends and the policing needs of each individual division. The unprecedented budget of in excess of €2 billion in 2023 allows for the continued recruitment of gardaí and Garda staff, and we are seeing Garda recruits enter Templemore every 11 weeks. The number of gardaí has increased by more than 8% since 2015, as the numbers increase towards the target of 15,000. I have no doubt that the Garda Commissioner will ensure that Kildare has the number of gardaí that it requires.
I do not have any specific numbers regarding any gardaí who may have travelled to Dublin on that fateful Thursday.
Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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I was in my constituency office in Naas that Thursday evening, and I could hear the sirens going off on the main street as gardaí headed towards Dublin. It is for this reason that I really want to talk to the Minister of State about what it is like for families of gardaí who were left unprotected that night at the riot. I know what it is like to be a member of a Garda family, and I have spoken previously about what it is like. My particular childhood memory was the night of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings, and being worried because my dad was not home for tea that evening. He still was not home by the time we were all sent to bed that night.
My heart went out to families of gardaí who were watching those scenes on that night in November, and I am sure, with young children having phones, their mothers and fathers at home might have been trying to make sure they were not able to see those scenes. While they were out protecting us, there was nobody protecting them. Not the Minister, and not the Garda Commissioner. I have been contacted by retired gardaí who knew my dad and they still have family working in the service. The rank and file feels terribly undervalued. The numbers are not there. We need more gardaí.
James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge the courage and bravery of gardaí who faced those riots on that Thursday, including those from Dublin and those who came from further afield responding to the call to support the gardaí in Dublin, who faced those violent thugs who sought to take advantage of a very difficult and challenging situation. We all acknowledge the bravery and courage of those gardaí who responded on that night. They should not have faced that type of thuggery and lawlessness that was attempted by a group of people who sought to take advantage of an horrific situation for their own personal benefit.