Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason the creation of 900 civilian posts within the Garda has resulted in the release of only 144 Garda personnel for frontline policing duties, as highlighted in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General; the steps he will take to ensure greater use of civilian personnel, as recommended in the recent report of the Garda Inspectorate on resource allocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12998/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Increased civilian support for the Garda Síochána does not and never was intended to exclusively take the form of one for one replacement of individual Gardaí with civilians. Suggestions to the contrary are based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of civilianisation. In some instances, civilianisation does indeed enable the direct replacement of sworn members, who are engaged in exclusively clerical, administrative or technical duties, with civilian staff. In most cases, however, it allows sworn members who would otherwise have to devote a very substantial part of their working day to performing administrative duties to focus exclusively on front-line policing duties. Civilian staff may also be recruited to perform new or expanded administrative, managerial and professional support roles in the Garda Síochána, for example as crime analysts or IT specialists.

On this account, and because of the significant restructuring of roles, functions and business areas that has taken place at all levels of the Garda Síochána in recent years, it is difficult to quantify the exact number of posts which were occupied by sworn members but which today are held by civilians. I can however confirm that since 2003 the number of civilians in the Garda Síochána has risen to approximately 2,115 whole time equivalents. While this is still a lower proportion compared to some similar police services in other jurisdictions, the Commissioner is committed to increasing this number further as resources allow.

Civilian staff are now involved in the provision of vital support services in a wide range of administrative, professional, technical and industrial areas, including Human Resources, Training & Development, IT and Telecommunications, Finance and Procurement, Internal Audit, Communications, research and analysis, accommodation and fleet management, scene-of-crime support and medical services. In addition, a number of essential operational support areas are now wholly or largely staffed by civilian staff, such as the Central Vetting Unit and the Fixed Charge Processing Office in Thurles and the Garda Information Services Centre which is based in Castlebar. The Garda Síochána Analysis Service, to which I referred earlier, is staffed by qualified and highly trained civilian analysts. Civilian Telecommunications Technicians also provide front-line support to the whole of the Garda organisation across a range of technologies and services. The augmented civilian element in the Garda organisation which has been deployed by the Garda Commissioner in recent years has made a significant contribution to the effectiveness of law enforcement in this State.

The recommendations in the recent report of the Inspectorate on resource allocation are being carefully examined so that the potential for maximising the use of civilians and in turn releasing members of An Garda Síochána for frontline policing can be realised.