David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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152. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of whole-time equivalent members of An Garda Síochána assigned to the Waterford city and county divisions for each of the years 2007 to 2016 to date, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20760/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and Districts. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of these resources.

As the Deputy will be aware, when the financial crisis hit, the Government of the time introduced a moratorium on recruitment and the four year National Recovery Plan, published in 2010, envisaged a steady reduction in Garda numbers. Thankfully, in a recovering economy, we were able to reopen the Garda College in September 2014, and a total of 851 Garda trainees have been recruited with a further 300 planned to be recruited during the remainder of this year. So far 534 of the new Garda trainees have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream uniform duties nationwide with another 150 more planned to attest in November. Of these, 24 newly attested members have been assigned to the Waterford Garda Division.

The Programme for Government, "A Programme for a Partnership Government" commits tocontinuing the ongoing accelerated Garda recruitment programme with a view to increasing Garda numbers to 15,000. Taking account of projected retirements, the current rate of recruitment will bring Garda numbers to around the 13,000 mark this year. We must, I believe, endeavour to make more rapid progress than this to reach our target of 15,000 and I am engaging with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, in relation to increasing the planned annual intake this year and in coming years .

The specific information on the number of whole time equivalent members of An Garda Síochána assigned to the Waterford Garda Division for each of the years 2007 to 2016 to date is being compiled in the format requested and will be sent to the Deputy directly.