Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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863. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of new Garda civilian members expected to complete their training in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. [28528/17]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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864. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the projected number of Garda civilian members in the force by the end of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively. [28529/17]

Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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865. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of recruitment of sufficient Garda civilian members in 2018 to meet the 4,000 target in the programme for Government. [28530/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 863 to 865, inclusive, together.

As part of its Five Year Reform and High-level Workforce Plan for An Garda Síochána, the Government has agreed an overall vision for a Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 to include 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Garda Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. This very substantial investment in personnel is driven by our commitment to ensure all citizens have the reassurance of a visible, responsive and effective policing service.

The most recent available figure for the number of civilians working in An Garda Síochána is for 30 April 2017, at which point there were 2,098 civilian staff members working throughout the organisation carrying out senior management, administrative and technical roles. The projected number of 4,000 civilians will effectively double the current figure on an incremental basis and represents a medium-term target of a Garda organisation 20% comprised of civilians. That will bring An Garda Síochána, currently 14% comprised of civilians, more in 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 20% target will be achieved through a twin-track approach of, firstly, a “civilian by default” policy to be adopted in relation to the filling of all new posts other than operational policing posts and for non-operational policing posts that become vacant and, secondly, the redeployment of Gardaí and backfilling by suitably qualified civilians where necessary. In its 'Changing Policing in Ireland' report, the Garda Inspectorate 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 and to prepare a 5 year plan for reaching the 20% medium term target. This plan, with the consent of my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, will determine the number of civilians to be recruited in each of the coming years and the projected number of civilians for each year in order to reach the target of 4,000 civilians by 2021.

As a first step in this process, funding for the recruitment of up to 500 civilians has been provided in Budget 2017 to facilitate the 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 are intended to facilitate deeper civilianisation in the coming years. To date, the Policing Authority (with the consent of the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform) has approved 137 of these positions including two new senior posts of Executive Director Strategy and Change Management and Executive Director Legal and Compliance. The recruitment process for the Strategy and Change Management position has been completed and the name of the successful candidate passed to the Policing Authority which is the appointing body. The recruitment process for the legal and Compliance position is in train. The Government has also agreed in principle to the position of a Chief Information Officer. The majority of the positions sanctioned are in the areas of ICT, Human Resources, Governance and Strategy, Legal and Compliance, and Finance. 43 of the initial 137 sanctioned posts will go towards back filling vacancies created by the redeployment of Garda members to policing duties. Garda management has indicated that some 30% of the total 500 civilians to be recruited this year will lead to redeployment opportunities. In addition to these sanctioned posts, the Policing Authority have indicated to An Garda Síochána that consequential vacancies may be filled in the organisation.

Training for civilian members will vary from position to position depending on the nature of the role involved and continue throughout their career as the need arises and in order to aid continuous professional development. Unlike Garda members who must go through the full Garda training process, formal training courses are not necessarily a prerequisite for beginning work in civilian roles. Indeed one of the reasons for engaging civilians is that in many cases they already have the required professional expertise to undertake the role concerned within An Garda Síochána.