Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the total strength of An Garda Siochana in each of the past ten years to date; the strength at which personnel were deployed and continue to be deployed over each Garda Division; his anticipated strength of the force in each division over the next three years; the extend to which he expects to be in a position to provide adequate Garda availability on a twenty-four hour basis throughout each division in the future; the extent to which redeployments or rescheduling is needed to provide sufficient Garda cover evenly across the county in the aftermath of the already announced closure of some Garda Stations; the degree to which policing strategy continues to be in line with internationally recognised and modern best practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11606/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the detailed allocation of resources, including personnel, throughout the organisation and I have no direct function in the matter. This allocation of resources is constantly monitored in the context of demographics, crime trends, policing needs and other operational strategies in place on a District, Divisional and Regional level to ensure optimum use is made of Garda resources and the best possible Garda service is provided to the public.

The Deputy will also be aware that each District headquarters provides a 24 hour policing service to all of the communities in that district. Garda numbers have been reducing due to the moratorium on recruitment. My objective, despite the enormous financial pressures facing the Government is to ensure that Garda numbers will not fall below 13,000. I have informed my Cabinet colleagues that I am reviewing the position regarding Garda strength in light of an estimated reduction to just over 13,000 by the end of 2013, and, in this context, I will be bringing all relevant proposals to Cabinet in the coming weeks.

The Garda Commissioner has stated that the revised structures will continue to support the Garda community policing philosophy through the clustering of services at policing hubs. This centralisation of services will facilitate the introduction of enhanced patrolling arrangements which, in turn, will provide increased Garda visibility as well as maintaining existing Garda links with communities throughout the country. The objective will be to ensure that the best possible policing service will continue to be provided to our communities. The Garda Commissioner has also advised that closure of stations will result in some additional 61,000 patrolling hours being available for operational policing.

I have been informed by the Garda Commissioner that the personnel strength of An Garda Síochána on 31 December 2003 to 2012 and on 31 January 2013, the latest date for which figures are readily available, broken down by Division was as set out in the table. The distribution of Gardaí throughout the country in future years will be determined by the Commissioner taking all relevant factors into account and will be focussed on providing the best possible service to the public.

(*Divisional re-alignments were carried out between 2007 and 2009)