Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Question 170: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the crime statistics for the Blessington area, County Wicklow for 2005, 2006 and 2007; the number of Gardaí on duty on week days and on Saturdays and Sundays in the area; the area they cover; if he will establish a full time Garda station as a matter of urgency due to the rapidly increasing population; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8568/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I am informed by the Commissioner that the personnel strength of Blessington Garda station, as at 31 January 2008, is 16. For security and operational reasons, it is not Garda policy to disclose the number or percentage of personnel on duty in any specific area during any specific period of time.

The Deputy will appreciate that, as with any large organisation on any given day, personnel strengths of individual stations may fluctuate due, for example, to promotions, retirements and transfers.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that increasing the opening hours of a Garda station would necessitate the employment of additional Garda personnel on indoor administrative duties who may be more effectively employed on outdoor policing duties.

It is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner to allocate personnel throughout the Force taking all relevant factors into account. In that regard, the needs of the Garda stations referred to will be fully considered by the Commissioner within the overall context of the needs of Garda stations throughout the country.

Following the submission in 2004 of a report and recommendations by an expert group on crime statistics, it was decided that the compilation and publication of crime statistics should be taken over by the Central Statistics Office, as the national statistical agency, from the Garda Síochána. The Garda Síochána Act 2005 consequently makes provision for this and the CSO has established a dedicated unit for this purpose. Following the setting up of the necessary technical systems and auditing of the data from which the statistics are compiled, the CSO is now compiling and publishing criminal statistics and has published provisional headline crime statistics since the third quarter of 2006.

I have requested the CSO to provide the statistics sought by the Deputy directly to him.