Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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147. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of civilians in the Garda workforce in each Garda division on 31 October 2016. [36174/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, the Commissioner is responsible for the recruitment and distribution of personnel including civilian staff in An Garda Síochána and I, as Minister, have no direct role in these matters. Garda management keeps such matters 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.

I am informed that there are currently in the region of 2,000 civilians undertaking administrative and technical duties within An Garda Síochána. On Budget day I announced that the Government has approved my proposal that by 2021 the overall Garda workforce should comprise a total of 21,000 personnel; to include 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Garda Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. 4,000 civilians will effectively double the current figure of civilians undertaking administrative and technical duties within An Garda Síochána and represents a medium term target of 20% civilians by 2021. This will bring An Garda Síochána, currently with 14% civilians, more into line with international norms and ensure that trained Gardaí are not engaging in administrative and technical duties which could be done by suitably qualified civilian staff. The Garda Inspectorate, in its 2015 report "Changing Policing in Ireland" has estimated that there may be up to 1,250 Gardaí currently in such posts and the Government’s plan aims to return as many of these Gardaí as possible to front-line duties over the next five years. With this in mind, the Garda Commissioner, in conjunction with the Policing Authority, has been requested to identify posts suitable for redeployment by the end of the year and to prepare a 5 year plan for reaching the 20% medium term target.

The recruitment and appointment of up to 500 civilians provided for in Budget 2017 will facilitate the Garda Commissioner in addressing capacity and critical skills gaps across the organisation including in corporate supports, change management, human resources and financial management at the national, regional and Divisional level. These appointments will make an important contribution to the delivery of the ambitious reform agenda set out in the Commissioner's Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021 and will facilitate deeper civilianisation in the coming years.

I have provided a breakdown of the detailed information requested in relation to the number of civilians in each Garda Division on the 31 October 2016, the latest date for which figures are readily available, for the record. Apart from the posts listed below, there are more than another 1,000 civilian staff undertaking other administrative and technical duties within An Garda Síochána as civilianisation enables the establishment or expansion of some vital services which are wholly or largely provided by civilian staff – including the Garda National Immigration Bureau, the Garda Information Service Centre, the Garda Central Vetting Unit, the Fixed Charge Processing Office, and the civilianisation of the call taking function in the Command and Control Centre.

CIVILIAN STRENGTH OCTOBER 2016