Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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135. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí allocated to the Limerick division currently; if there has been a reduction in these numbers in 2016; if she will provide an assurance that Garda numbers will be retained to maintain the progress that has been made on crime prevention and reduction in County Limerick; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25509/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel among the Garda Regions, Divisions, and Districts and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. 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 that on 31 July 2016, the latest date for which figures are readily available, there were 554 Gardaí (a reduction of one member compared to January 2016) assigned to Limerick, with 46 Reserves and 49 civilians. When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI), the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (formerly the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation) and the Garda National Immigration Bureau (GNIB) the Drugs Unit. The needs of each Division are fully considered within the context of the overall policing needs of the State.

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 12 of these have been assigned to Limerick. Another 150 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 before 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.