Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 45: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress made in terms of civilianising Garda tasks since the publication of the Garda Inspectorate report in August 2007. [13997/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The civilianisation programme proposed for An Garda Síochána is being implemented by the Garda Commissioner and significant progress has been made to date in the recruitment of civilian staff. The number of full and part-time civilian staff assigned to the Garda Síochána as at the 31 March 2008 was 2,461.

The number of full-time equivalent civilian staff of An Garda Síochána increased from 1,687 on 31 December 2007 to 1,838 on 31 March 2008, representing an increase of 151 (9%) in the number that have been appointed to the organisation in the first three months of this year. This follows on from a 32% increase in the number of civilian employees from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2007 — from 1,282 to 1,687.

Civilian staff of An Garda Síochána are involved in the provision of a wide range of professional support services in the administrative, professional, technical and industrial areas. This is best demonstrated by the range of recruitment of civilians that has taken place in the Garda organisation:

Over 300 Clerical Officers were recruited and assigned positions within An Garda Síochána in Dublin in 2007 on foot of the Government Decision of 19 December 2006. These Clerical Officers have been allocated to the Dublin Metropolitan Region, Garda Headquarters and Specialised Units.

The civilianisation of posts at senior levels of An Garda Síochána has also commenced. Appointments have been made to the positions of Chief Administrative Officer and Director of Communications. The positions of Executive Director of ICT, Director of Change Management and Head of Legal Services have been advertised with a closing date of 10 April, 2008. Recruitment for the position of Executive Director of Human Resources is due to commence shortly.

Significant progress is underway in recruiting Clerical Officers to Garda Stations outside Dublin, the Garda Central Vetting Unit, Thurles and the Garda Information Services Centre, Castlebar.

The recruitment of civilian staff to other senior and middle management positions in the Garda Síochána is also well under way and appointments have been made to a wide range of positions.

A dedicated Human Resource Directorate, reporting to the Assistant Commissioner in charge of HRM has been established in An Garda Síochána to serve the needs of the civilian, administrative, professional, technical and industrial staff in the Garda Síochána.

The Commissioner is committed to developing the civilian support function within the Garda Síochána to the level of best international practice and will continue to work to drive the civilianisation programme forward.