Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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200. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí serving in the Garda districts across County Donegal for each of the years 2006 to 2016 and to date in 2017, in tabular form. [1775/17]

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 resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources 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.

As the Deputy will be aware, when the financial crisis hit, the Government of the time introduced a moratorium on recruitment. Thankfully, in a recovering economy, we were able to reopen the Garda College in September 2014 and the current Government is committed to steadily increasing Garda numbers. 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.

For the Deputy's information I have set out below in tabular form the number of Gardaí assigned to the Donegal Division by District from 2006 to 30 November 2016, the latest date for which figures are readily available from the Commissioner.