John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

136. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda stations in Limerick city; the number of gardaí deployed in each of these stations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22591/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. I am advised that Garda management keeps this distribution under continuing review taking into account crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the best possible use is made of these resources.

I have been informed by the Garda Commissioner, in summary, that there were 26 stations on 31 May 2016 with 550 members assigned to the Limerick Division. As the Deputy will understand, there is a significant amount of information available down to station / sub-district level which he has requested. For ease of reference I have provided a breakdown of the information requested overleaf for the record.

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, 12 newly attested members have been assigned to the Limerick Garda Division.

The Programme for 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.

LIMERICK DIVISION 31 MAY 2016