Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 135: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will ensure the Garda in the south east has sufficient resources to stem the supply of cocaine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5447/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I have been informed by the Garda authorities, which are responsible for the detailed allocation of resources, including personnel, that the personnel strength of each Garda division in the south eastern region, as at 16 February 2005, was as set out in the following table:

All gardaí have responsibility, inter alia, to deal with drug related issues as they arise. In addition, the Garda operates a number of special Garda projects in the region, through funding received from my Department. The purpose of these projects is to address a number of the needs of young people at risk of becoming engaged in criminal activity, including substance misuse.

The Government established ten regional drugs task forces in 2002 based on the old health board areas to ensure the development of a co-ordinated and integrated approach is in place to tackle the drugs problem. The south eastern regional drug task force's area of remit includes the counties Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford and Tipperary South Riding. The Garda is represented on this group.

Since their establishment, the task forces, including the south eastern regional drug task force, have been involved in a process of mapping out the nature and extent of drug misuse in their regions and they are developing action plans to tackle the problem which will be presented to Government during 2005. Issues of emerging cocaine use in the region and measures to address this will be considered in this context.

Other resources available to the south eastern region to address substance usage, including cocaine, include dedicated divisional drugs units, community gardaí and juvenile liaison officers. These resources are supported by the general Garda resources operating within the region as well as support from national units, including the Garda national drugs unit, the Criminal Assets Bureau and the national bureau of criminal investigation.

With regard to Garda resources generally, I am pleased the Government has approved my proposal to increase the strength of the Garda to 14,000 members on a phased basis, in line with the commitment in An Agreed Programme for Government in this regard. This is a key commitment in the programme for Government and its implementation will significantly strengthen the operational capacity of the force.

The commissioner will draw up plans on how best to distribute and manage these additional resources. In this context, the needs of south eastern region will be fully considered within the context of the needs of Garda regions throughout the country. The additional resources will be targeted at the areas of greatest need, as is envisaged in the programme for Government. The programme identifies areas with a significant drugs problem and a large number of public order offences, but it will be possible to address other priorities as well such as the need to very significantly increase the number of gardaí allocated to traffic duties as part of the new Garda traffic corps. I have promised is the additional gardaí will not be put on administrative duties. They will be put directly into frontline, operational, high-visibility policing and they will have an impact.