Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to increase civilianisation of the Gardaí in order to ensure they are freed from desk duties. [6005/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The number of civilian staff in the Garda Síochána has increased in recent years to just over 2,000 full-time-equivalent staff in the Garda Síochána. These staff provide vital 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. Civilian staff have also been appointed to the senior management positions of Executive Director of Finance, Executive Director of IT and Head of Legal Affairs. A competition for the appointment of a new Chief Administration Officer has also recently concluded and an appointment to that position is expected shortly.