Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Local papers in Carlow last week carried front page headlines reading "Lack of gardaí led to closure of station". This was in Carlow town, which has a population of over 20,000 people. In yesterday's Carlow People the chief superintendent admitted there is a major drug problem in Carlow. There is grave concern in Carlow town and county about the manpower levels in the Garda division. There is a view that gardaí have been taken out of the station and diverted into the traffic corps and initiatives such as Operation Anvil. That comes at a cost because Garda numbers have decreased elsewhere.

The Minister's speech writers cite statistics on Garda levels in 1997. The population of Carlow has increased substantially in the past ten years but Garda numbers have not kept up. Unfortunately the increase in population has brought an increase in social problems. Carlow town is one of the fastest growing towns in the country and is almost as big as Kilkenny city. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, was in Carlow recently at a launch organised by the Irish Wheelchair Association and saw how big the town is.

It is vital that we have a proper dedicated Garda force with the facilities, resources and manpower to do its job. A serious incident recently occurred at 6.30 a.m. on a Monday which was attended by the only two gardaí on duty, leaving no garda in Carlow Garda station. While this was an isolated and exceptional case, it is worrying. I want the Minister to update us on the Garda manpower levels in the Carlow town area and commit to increasing them substantially in the coming months, especially to make up for any manpower losses as a result of diversions to the traffic corps, the drug squad or Operation Anvil.

Tim O'Malley (Limerick East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the detailed allocation of Garda resources, including personnel. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has been informed by the Garda authorities that the personnel strength, all ranks, of the Garda Síochána on 31 March 2006 was 12,439. This compares with a total strength of 10,702, all ranks, on 30 June 1997 and represents an increase of 1,737, or 16.2%, in the personnel strength of the force during that period.

The personnel strength, all ranks, of Carlow Garda station on 31 December 1997 and 30 April 2006 was 40 and 57, respectively. This represents an increase of 17, or 43%, in the number of Garda personnel assigned to Carlow Garda station during that period. Carlow Garda station, which is open on a 24-hour basis, is located in the Carlow-Kildare division in the eastern region. The numbers of gardaí, all ranks, stationed in the Carlow-Kildare division on 31 December 1997, 2000, and from 2002 to 2005, inclusive, and on 30 April 2006 were as follows: 1997, 281; 2000, 303; 2002, 323; 2003, 323; 2004, 323; 2005, 331; and 2006, 350. This represents an increase of 69, or 25%, in the number of Garda personnel allocated to the Carlow-Kildare division during that period. The divisional resources are further augmented by a number of Garda national units such as the Garda National Immigration Bureau, GNIB, the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, and other specialised units.

It is the responsibility of Garda management to allocate personnel to and within divisions on a priority basis in accordance with the requirements of different areas. These personnel allocations are determined by a number of factors including demographics, crime trends, administrative functions and other operational policing needs. Such allocations are continually monitored and reviewed along with overall policing arrangements and operational strategy. This ensures that optimum use is made of Garda resources and that the best possible service is provided to the public.

The current recruitment drive to increase the strength of the Garda Síochána to 14,000 members, in line with the commitment in An Agreed Programme for Government, is fully on target. This will lead to a combined strength of attested gardaí and recruits in training of 14,000 by the end of this year. As part of the accelerated recruitment campaign to facilitate this record expansion, 1,125 Garda recruits were inducted to the Garda College during 2005. The college will induct a further 1,100 recruits this year and again in 2007 by way of intakes of approximately 275 recruits every quarter. The first incremental increase of newly-attested gardaí under the current programme of accelerated recruitment took place on 16 March this year and a further 275 newly-attested gardaí will come on stream every 90 days thereafter.

The Garda Commissioner will draw up plans on how best to distribute and manage these additional resources, and in this context the needs of Carlow will be given the fullest consideration. An additional nine gardaí are due to be allocated to the Carlow-Kildare division in conjunction with the next incremental increase on 8 June. The Senator will already be aware from earlier this week that the Commissioner has decided to augment Operation Safeguard with the temporary allocation of 275 gardaí who have recently completed training, phase 3, at the Garda College. In addition to providing resources to the operation, it is expected that involvement at an early stage in their career will help focus these young gardaí towards road safety. In conjunction with this allocation, an extra 60 gardaí will be assigned to Garda divisional traffic corps throughout the country, bringing the total full-time dedicated traffic personnel to 685.

The primary focus of Operation Safeguard will be to improve a compliance culture among all road users. Where road users fail to comply with the law, the Garda Síochána is determined to take the appropriate action. Road safety is not solely the responsibility of the Garda Síochána, but each and every road user throughout the country. Many agencies also have statutory responsibility for road safety and the Garda Síochána meets regularly with ail such agencies.

There are plans to build an extension to Carlow Garda station and the Office of Public works is in the process of assembling a design team for the project. While it is not possible to say when the works will commence, there will be no avoidable delay in attending to the accommodation needs of gardaí in Carlow.

The PULSE system is currently available at 231 Garda locations nationwide, including Carlow town. This represents a significant increase over 2005 figures. An additional 50 stations were networked during 2005 and further extension is planned this year, including locations in County Carlow. As well as investing in the expansion of the system, over the past year significant resources have also been invested in upgrading the system to ensure it operates to maximum efficiency. In addition, a major new initiative involving the manner in which data is input to PULSE is currently under way with the establishment of the new Garda information services centre, GISC, at Castlebar, County Mayo. The centre, which is staffed by civilian personnel, allows gardaí at the scene of incidents to report such incidents by mobile phone to call takers at the call centre. This obviates the need for gardaí to return to their stations to report incidents. The system is currently in operation in the southern and south eastern regions and work is under way to extend the system nationwide. These new arrangements will benefit all gardaí, particularly those in non-networked stations. The Minister is confident that these measures, particularly the establishment of the call centre at Castlebar, will ensure gardaí will have access to the requisite information in the most efficient and effective manner possible.

Carlow is one of the 17 locations nationwide forming part of the Garda CCTV programme that remains to be completed. As the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has indicated previously, he is anxious to accelerate the implementation of this CCTV programme and reduce as far as possible the workload of the Garda Síochána in this regard. He believes that the answer is to outsource the installation of Garda CCTV systems to the greatest extent possible, making use not only of the technical but also of the project management expertise in the private sector.

The Department is currently in consultation with the Department of Finance with a view to proceeding as quickly as possible with the procurement process to contract the project managers and outsourced service providers for the development, installation and management of these CCTV systems. The Minister's ambition is to have a Garda CCTV system operating in Carlow and in the other locations at the earliest opportunity, subject to compliance with relevant procurement legislation and procedures.