Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 205: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of Gardaí attached to Coolock Garda station; the population and the area covered by the station; and the number of such Gardaí ordinarily on duty between 6 pm and midnight on Sundays. [25287/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I have been informed by the Garda Commissioner that the personnel strength of An Garda Síochána increased to a record 12,641 (all ranks) on Thursday 8 June with the attestation of 273 new members. This compares with a total strength of 10,702 (all ranks) as at 30 June 1997 and represents an increase of 1,939 (or 18.1%) in the personnel strength of the Force during that period.

I have been further informed by the Garda authorities that the personnel strength of Coolock Garda Station as at 27 June, 2006 was 89 (all ranks). Garda special units designed to fight serious crime are also available to Garda management at Coolock Garda Station. The Garda Síochána employs a range of techniques in the fight against serious crime. The national bureau of criminal investigation is the Garda specialist unit tasked with the role of tackling organised crime and it carries out this role by conducting intelligence driven operations in close co-operation with other specialist units, specifically, the national criminal intelligence unit, the Garda national drugs unit, the Garda bureau of fraud investigation and the Criminal Assets Bureau. The population figure for the Coolock sub-district, as sourced from the CSO Census of Population of 2002 (the latest date for which such figures are currently available), was 47,918.

Garda management state that for security and operational reasons it is not Garda policy to disclose the number of personnel on duty in any given area at any specific time.

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.

I should add that the current recruitment drive to increase the strength of the Garda Síochána to 14,000 members, in line with the commitment in the Agreed Programme for Government, is fully on target. This will lead to a combined strength, of both attested Gardaí and recruits in training, of 14,000 by the end of this year. The first group of newly attested Gardaí under this accelerated recruitment programme came on stream in March and the second such group did so on the 8th of June. Further tranches of approximately 275 newly attested Gardaí will follow every 90 days thereafter until the programme is complete. 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 Coolock Garda Station will be given the fullest consideration.