Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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107. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the progress to date and her plans for 2017 in recruiting civilian personnel in order to replace fully trained gardaí that are currently assigned to office-only duties; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37209/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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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. To make this a reality for all, the Government has in place a plan to achieve an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. In 2017, funding has been provided for the recruitment of 800 Garda recruits and up to 500 civilians to support the wide ranging reform plan in train in An Garda Síochána. Appointments will also be made to the Garda Reserve of approximately 300.

The target of 4,000 civilians will effectively double the number of civilians undertaking administrative and technical duties within An Garda Síochána at present 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 1,500 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.

In addition, and again flowing from the recommendations of the Garda Inspectorate, the Commissioner has commenced the roll-out on a pilot basis of a Divisional model of policing to replace the current District model. The benefit of the Divisional model is that responsibilities will be allocated on a functional rather than geographical basis which will facilitate greater flexibility in the deployment of resources in response to policing needs. It also will have the benefit of reducing duplicate administrative tasks currently done at both the District and Divisional level. In this regard the Commissioner has estimated that 10 Gardaí will be freed up for front-line duties in each Division once the model is fully rolled out. The roll-out will be done on a phased basis and in such a manner as to ensure that the close relationship between Gardaí and local communities is maintained.

The Deputy may wish to be aware that under section 19 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 as amended, the appointment of civilian staff of grades equivalent to, or above, that of chief superintendent are made by the Policing Authority while the appointment of civilian staff equivalent to, or below, that of superintendent are made by the Garda Commissioner. Arranging for the recruitment of civilian staff is a matter for the Commissioner in accordance with section 26 of the 2005 Act as amended.