Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 214: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the plans for a 24-hour Garda station in Carndonagh in north Inishowen, County Donegal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12698/06]

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 at present Carndonagh Garda station is a sub-district station of the Buncrana district and does not operate on a 24-hour basis.

I am further informed by Garda management that the establishment of a rural community policing initiative in north Inishowen is currently being examined. The proposed administrative headquarters for this initiative is Carndonagh Garda station. It is anticipated that this initiative would also provide 24-hour cover for the north Inishowen area.

The timescale for achieving the target strength of 14,000 members of the Garda Síochána in line with the commitment in An 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 incremental increase of newly attested gardaí under the programme of accelerated recruitment took place on 15 March 2006. The Garda Commissioner will now be drawing up plans on how best to distribute and manage these additional resources, and in this context the needs of the north Inishowen area will be fully considered within the overall context of the needs of Garda areas throughout the country.