Written answers

Tuesday, 3 November 2015

Department of Justice and Equality

Garda Deployment

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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604. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to ensure that additional Garda Síochána will be assigned to the Cavan-Monaghan division; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38378/15]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the Garda Regions, Divisions, and Districts. Garda management keep this distribution under continuing review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the best possible 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 five intakes of Garda Trainees to the Garda College, giving a total intake of 475. It is planned that a further 75 recruits will enter college by the end of November, bringing total recruitment of Garda Trainees to 550. So far 295 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 and in this regard ten new probationer Gardai have been assigned to the Cavan/Monaghan Garda Division this year.

The increased budget allocation for An Garda Síochána in 2016 which I recently announced, provides for the recruitment of 600 new Gardaí in addition to the 550 that will be recruited by year end. This will bring the total number of trainee Gardai recruited since September 2014 to 1,150 by the end of 2016. The ongoing recruitment of new Gardaí is crucial to An Garda Síochána and for the safety of communities throughout the State. This ramped-up recruitment underscores the determination of this Government to deliver an effective, responsive police service to protect our communities and respond to emerging crime trends.

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