Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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129. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide an update on the appointment of new Garda Síochána recruits; when will these recruits be assigned to stations; and if any recruits will be allocated to County Louth. [32591/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Regions, Divisions, and Districts; and I as Minister have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution under continuing review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of these resources.

This Government is committed to the ongoing recruitment of trainee Gardaí, and to this end the first intake since 2009 of new recruits commenced training at the Garda College, Templemore, in September of last year. To date there has been four intakes of Garda Trainees into the Garda College, giving a total intake of 400. A further 150 recruits will enter college by year end, bringing total recruitment of Garda Trainees to 550. So far 290 of the new Garda Trainees have attested as members of An Garda Síochána. On attestation, new Probationer Gardaí are assigned to Garda stations throughout the country by the Garda Commissioner, where they are assigned to mainstream uniform policing duties. I am assured by Garda management that the needs of all Garda Divisions are fully considered when determining the allocation of newly attested Gardaí.

I am informed by the Garda Commissioner that 10 of the newly attested Probationer Gardaí have been allocated to the Louth Division.