Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if any analysis has been completed on reasons for the substantial fall in Garda Reserve numbers between 2014 and 2016. [7628/17]

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, 300 Reserves, and up to 500 civilians to support the wide ranging reform plan in train in An Garda Síochána.

As the Deputy notes there has been a substantial reduction in the strength of the Reserve in recent years from a peak of 1,164 in 2013 to 695 currently. The fall-off arises from a range of factors, not least the lifting in 2014 of the moratorium on recruitment of trainee Gardaí which has affected Reserve numbers in two ways - firstly close to 200 serving Reserves have successfully applied to become trainee Gardaí, and secondly, resources in both An Garda Síochána and in the Public Appointment Service have been focused on delivering an accelerated programme of recruitment of full time members of An Garda Síochána. I am sure that the Deputy will agree, notwithstanding the very valuable contribution of Reserve members throughout the country, that it was the right decision, with finite resources, to prioritise the running of recruitment campaigns to replenish the full-time ranks of An Garda Síochána over the last three years.

Now that the recruitment process for trainee Gardaí has been bedded down and is producing a continuous pipeline of new recruits for the Garda College, work is underway on the development of multi-annual plan with the objective of recruiting and training 300 new Reserves annually starting this year, to bring the strength of the Reserve up from its current strength to 2,000 by 2021. In this regard Garda management in conjunction with my Department is engaging with the Public Appointments Service in relation to the timing of a fresh recruitment drive for the Reserve.