Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 79: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will provide an update on the proposed civilianisation policy being discussed between himself and the Garda Commissioner and any necessary discussions between him and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform in this regard; the likely outcomes and the timeline for implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31235/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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There are currently over 2,000 full-time-equivalent civilian support staff in the Garda Síochána.

These staff provide vital support services in a wide range of areas, such as human resources, training & development, IT and telecommunications, finance and procurement, internal audit, research and analysis, accommodation and fleet management, scene-of-crime support and medical services. In doing so, they release highly trained Gardaí from administrative tasks to operational policing.

While the current number of civilian support staff is an increase on previous years the level of civilian support staff in the Garda Síochána is still significantly lower than in many comparable police forces. This is reflected in the 2009 Garda Inspectorate report on Resource Allocation, which called for the numbers of Gardaí available for operational duty to be maximised through a structured programme of civilianisation.

However, in seeking to increase the number of civilian support staff, we must face the reality of the need to reduce overall numbers in the public service. The answer may lie in the more effective use of resources across the public service, including in particular more flexibility in redeployment of staff to priority areas. Indeed, the Garda reform agenda under the Croke Park Agreement contains a specific commitment, agreed by Garda management and the Garda Associations, to augment civilian support staff in the Force through appropriate redeployment of staff from elsewhere in the public service.