Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 176: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will conduct a full investigation into the number of gardaí currently required and required in the future to provide an adequate policing service to Ireland's growing population; the way in which he intends to meet this required recruit level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11512/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I have been informed by the Garda authorities, who are responsible for the detailed allocation of resources, including personnel, that the personnel strength, all ranks, of the Garda Síochána as at 31 December 1997 and 20 March 2006 was 10,702 and 12,445, respectively. This represents an increase of 1,743 or 16.3% in the personnel strength of the Garda Síochána during that period.

The timescale for achieving the target strength of 14,000 members of the Garda Síochána in line with the commitment in the agreed programme for Government remains as when I announced the Government approval in October 2004 for my proposals to achieve this objective. The phased increase in the strength of the Garda Síochána to 14,000 will lead to a combined strength, of both attested gardaí and recruits in training, of 14,000 by the end of this year. This project is fully on target and will be achieved.

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 of these intakes commenced training on 9 February 2006. The first incremental increase of newly attested gardaí under the programme of accelerated recruitment took place on 15 March 2006.

The Garda Síochana Act 2005 provides for the establishment of a Garda Síochána inspectorate comprising three persons to be appointed by the Government, one of whom shall be appointed as its chief inspector. The purpose of the inspectorate will be to seek to ensure that the resources of the Garda Síochána are used to achieve the highest levels of efficiency and effectiveness benchmarked with best police standards. Recruitment of the chief inspector is at an advanced stage and will be followed closely by the appointment of the other two inspectors.

Following its establishment, I intend to request the inspectorate to carry out an inquiry to identify the required manpower needs of the Garda Síochána, having regard to international best practice in policing. This investigation will not only examine the force's requirement for trained police officers, it will also seek to identify the requirement for civilian support staff, for example, scenes of crime investigators, crime analysts, financial, IT and human resource personnel. I will examine the results of the inspectorate's inquiry in due course with a view to ensuring that the resources at the disposal of the Garda Síochána are sufficient to enable it to provide an effective policing service.