Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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274. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 568 of 17 April 2017, when the relevant reports will be provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22497/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As I advised the Deputy earlier in my answer to Parliamentary Question No. 568 of 17 April 2017 the information sought to a number of his questions was not available at the time of asking. I requested the information from the Garda Commissioner with a view to reverting to the Deputy when it was received. Having received the information from the Commissioner I indicated that I would collate the information into a single response as the issues raised related to a number of different matters. I now propose to set out this response below.

With regard to the Deputy's question on the number and names of Garda stations that are opened on a 24 hour basis, I am informed by the Garda authorities that the following 109 stations are open on a 24-hour basis.

Dublin Metropolitan Region

South Eastern Region

Southern Region

Western Division

Eastern Region

Northern Region

With reference to the question regarding the number of Garda Reserve members as at the end of 2017 and the percentage that completed the minimum of 208 annual hours per annum duty obligations it is worth recalling that the Garda Reserve was established in accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005 to enhance the links between An Garda Síochána and local communities. It consists of voluntary unpaid members, drawn from the community, to support the work of An Garda Síochána. However, an allowance is payable to Reserve members who complete a minimum of 208 hours duty annually as a contribution towards expenses incurred in performing their duties. The allowance is currently set at €1,000 per annum. Members of the Reserve are also reimbursed for expenses incurred while attending court in respect of their service in the Garda Reserve.

The strength of the Reserve was 589 on 31 December 2017. I am informed that 205 members or 34.8% were paid the allowance in 2017.

The Deputy also asked a number of questions relating to the criteria applied by An Garda Síochána for determining whether a crime should be recorded as a burglary as opposed to a criminal damage offence, whether both crimes are recorded on the PULSE system in circumstances in which criminal damage is committed in the course of a burglary, the checks in place to ensure that An Garda Síochána are correctly classifying crimes recorded on the PULSE system and the process and policy in place for the re-characterisation of crimes already submitted in the PULSE system.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that reviewing and re-classification of incidents, both crime and non-crime, is routine. Incidents recorded on PULSE are subject of review by supervisors, Performance and Accountability Framework (PAF) Administrators and District Officers, as well as staff at the Garda Information Service Centre (GISC) who are tasked with the recording of crime statistics. This is part of the normal process of regular review.

I am advised that An Garda Síochána, in determining whether a crime should be recorded as a burglary as opposed to criminal damage, provide that both incidents should be recorded on PULSE as both instances occurred during the same criminal incident. Both incidents are grouped together and the most serious one is flagged for crime counting purposes in the official statistics. This is determined by which incident carries the greatest penalty, in this case burglary would be flagged as the primary incident as it carries the greatest penalty and would be counted for official statistics.

I understand that the PULSE Classification Project is being rolled out incrementally in An Garda Síochána. This project assigns the GISC team as the classifier of PULSE incidents, thereby reducing the number of decision makers on the classification of crime and other incidents to the GISC team. This project is operational in the Northern and Western regions and is working successfully and it will be implemented in the Eastern and South Eastern, Southern Region and the DMR over the coming months.

With reference to Parliamentary Question No. 248 concerning the number of staff serving on the unit within An Garda Síochána known as the Charleton Liaison Unit that were appointed to the position by a person, a substantive reply was given on 23 January 2018 to this question.