Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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326. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of increasing the strength of An Garda Síochána to 15,000, 15,500 and 16,000; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44239/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Garda authorities that payroll costs for new Garda recruits include a basic allowance of €184 per week plus a living allowance of €77.92. After 32 weeks of training, Garda recruits are attested and move on to the first point of the Garda pay scale €23,171 rising to a maximum of €45,793 per annum after 19 years. They may also qualify for other allowances depending on their assignments.

The number of members in An Garda Síochána as of 31 October was 12,866. Based on this figure, the year one cost of increasing the strength of the force to 15,000, 15,500 and 16,000 (assuming a commencement date of 1 January) is approximately €40 million, €49.5 million and €59 million respectively. It should be noted that these costs reflect the pre and post attestation payroll costs for the first year. These figures include Employer's PRSI but exclude any allowances which the recruits may qualify for following attestation. Moreover the annual cost will obviously increase as the members’ move up the Garda pay scale each year.

I am further informed that the cost of training recruits is subsumed into the overall training costs of the Garda College and is not easily identifiable. The total cost of running the Garda College in 2014 was approximately €14m, which includes the salary costs of all College personnel.

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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327. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of increasing the strength An Garda Síochána reserve to 2,500; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44240/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I am informed by the Garda Commissioner that the annual allowance payable to Reserve Gardaí as a contribution towards their expenses is set at €1,000 per annum. In addition, the uniform cost per Reserve Garda is in the region of €1,300. As such the cost of increasing the strength of the Garda Reserve to 2,500 from the current figure of 978 attested Reserve Gardaí (plus a further 21 at various stages of training) is approximately €3.5 million.