Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 495: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality, following the publishing of the Garda Síochána senior management structure report in October 2006, which cited a lack of experienced civilian managers in key positions in the Garda Síochána, his plans to adhere to these recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5143/12]

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.

The rapid augmentation of civilian staffing in the Garda Síochána since 2006 included the recruitment of civilians to a wide range of specialist and managerial roles. Senior civilian posts include

Chief Administrative Officer,

Executive Director of Information and Communications Technology (ICT),

Executive Director of Finance & Services,

Director of Communications,

Head of Legal Services,

Chief Medical Officer,

Director of Civilian HR,

Head of Accommodation,

Head of Internal Audit,

Principal Officer posts heading An Garda Síochána Information Services (GISC) and the Analysis Service.

While the current number of civilian support staff is an increase on previous years, the level in the Garda Síochána is still lower than in comparable police forces. This is reflected in the 2009 Garda Inspectorate report on Resource Allocation, which called for the number of Gardaí available for operational duty to be maximised through a structured programme of civilianisation. We will continue to maximise the number of civilian support staff in An Garda Síochána consistent with overall policy on numbers in the public service and taking into account the scope for the appropriate redeployment of staff from elsewhere in the public service as part of the reform process under the Croke Park Agreement.