Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour)
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329. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the Garda Síochána districts in Dublin that received additional gardaí following the recruiting of extra gardaí in 2014; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40411/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the allocation of Garda resources, including personnel, is a matter for the Garda Commissioner, and that I as Minister have no direct role in the matter. Garda management will continue to keep this allocation of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends, demographics and policing priorities so as to ensure that the best use is made of Garda resources.

Since this Government reopened the Garda College in September 2014, there have been five intakes of Garda Trainees, 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 informed by the Garda Commissioner that the distribution of the 121 trainee Garda who attested in 2015, and who were assigned to the Dublin Metropolitan Region, is as set out in the table below.

This Government is committed to the ongoing recruitment of new Gardaí which is crucial to the renewal of An Garda Síochána and for the safety of communities throughout the State. The increased budget allocation for An Garda Síochána in 2016 provides for the recruitment of an additional 600 new trainee Gardaí. This will bring the total number of trainee Gardaí recruited to 1,150 by the end of 2016. A recruitment campaign will be advertised shortly for these positions.

Assignment of newly attested Garda in the D.M.R. in 2015