Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 629: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the fact that several Garda stations in the Dublin south central electoral area, namely Crumlin, Terenure, Sundrive and Ballyfermot have less than the average number of community Gardaí as measured against the rest of the Dublin metropolitan region; the steps, he plans to take to remedy this lack of community Gardaí for these stations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3317/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I have been informed by the Garda Commissioner that there are 4,227 Gardai attached to the Divisions in the Dublin Metropolitan Region and of these, 398 (approx 9%) are Community Gardai. Of course, community policing involves more than a just single unit within An Garda Síochána. All Gardaí have a role to play in addressing community policing issues. I fully agree with the view of the Garda Inspectorate, expressed in its most recent report, that community policing is a fundamental policing philosophy and that it is based on strong foundations in Ireland.

Specifically in relation to the areas mentioned by the Deputy the following are the percentage of Community Gardai in each station:

It is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner to allocate personnel throughout the Force taking everything into account. The situation will be kept under review and when additional personnel next become available the allocation of Community Gardaí will be fully considered by the Commissioner within the overall context of the needs of Garda stations throughout the country.