Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

123. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she is satisfied that the Garda in Ballymun, Dublin 11, has adequate manpower and resources, including patrol cars, to deal with the crime situation in the Santry area; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25239/16]

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 resources among the Garda Regions, Divisions and Districts and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution under continual review taking into account crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the best possible use is made of these resources.

Ballymun forms part of the Dublin Metropolitan North (DMR North) Division. I have been informed by the Garda Commissioner that the Garda strength of that Division, on the 31 July 2016, the latest date for which figures are readily available, was 224. Of these some 120 are stationed in Ballymun with another 84 stationed in Santry. There are also 11 Garda Reserves and 11 civilians attached to the Ballymun District.

There are 130 vehicles assigned to the Division. The breakdown by District is provided in the table. It is the responsibility of the Divisional Officer to allocate vehicles within his/her Division as appropriate.

This Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and deter crime. Key to achieving this goal is the commitment in the "Programme for a Partnership Government" tocontinue the ongoing accelerated Garda recruitment programme with a view to increasing Garda numbers to 15,000. Taking account of projected retirements, reaching a strength of 15,000 will require some 3,200 new Garda members to be recruited on a phased basis over the next four years in addition to the 1,200 that will have been recruited by the end of this year since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014. So far 534 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána of whom 41 have been assigned to the DMR North. Another 150 recruits are due to attest later this year.

In order to continue to ensure seamless ongoing recruitment I was very pleased to announce the commencement of a new recruitment campaign on 8 September. The campaign is being organised by the Public Appointments Service on behalf of the Garda Commissioner. Applications must be made through www.publicjobs.iebefore the closing date for applications on 29 September 2016. The existing recruitment campaign (launched last November) is ongoing and successful candidates will continue to be called from that campaign this year and into next year. It is expected that successful candidates from the new campaign will enter the Garda College from mid-2017.

As I have stated previously, when accelerating recruitment it is essential to ensure that An Garda Síochána has the capacity to train larger numbers without any diminution in the quality of its training programme, and to provide appropriate supervision and support to newly qualified Gardaí to ensure that victims and the public are well served. I welcome the detailed planning process that the Commissioner and her team have in place to ensure the delivery of increased numbers of Gardaí without any compromise on the quality of those recruited or the training programme.