Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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304. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of personnel in each Garda district by category as of 30 April 2015, 2016 and 2017, in tabular form. [23750/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who 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.

In order to deliver an effective policing service, it is essential that Garda management have the flexibility to deploy Garda resources to meet operational policing needs and address critical issues as they arise. For this reason, it is a matter for the Divisional Chief Superintendent to determine the optimum distribution of duties among the personnel available to him or her having regard to the profile of the area and its specific needs at any given time.

I am informed by the Commissioner that on the 30 April 2018, the latest date for which figures are readily available, the strength of An Garda Síochána was 13,632. There are also 562 Garda Reserves and more than 2,280 civilians attached to An Garda Síochána.

When appropriate, the work of local Gardaí is supported by a number of Garda national units such as the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Armed Support Units, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

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 to deter crime. To achieve this the Government has put in place a plan for an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. We are making real, tangible progress on achieving this goal.

Since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, just under 1,800 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide. Garda numbers, taking account of retirements, increased to 13,551 at the end of 2017 – a net increase of over 600 since the end of 2016.

I am pleased that funding is in place to maintain this high level of investment in the Garda workforce to ensure that the vision of an overall workforce of 21,000 by 2021 remains on track. This year a further 800 new Garda Recruits will enter the Garda College; some 400 of whom have already done so. In total, 800 Garda trainees are scheduled to attest during the year, some 200 of whom attested in March. Further, Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, are on track to reach 14,000 by the end of this year.

In addition, a further 500 civilians will also be recruited to fill critical skills gaps across the organisation and to facilitate the redeployment of Gardaí from administrative and technical duties to front-line operational duties. There are plans to strengthen the Garda Reserve with new Reserves expected to commence training in 2018.

This focus on investment in personnel is critical. The moratorium on recruitment introduced in 2010 resulted in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí across every Division.

I am informed that the detail of the number of Gardaí and resources allocated to the Armed Support Units is deemed to be operationally sensitive and cannot be disclosed for security reasons.

For the Deputy's information I have set out in the attached tables the strength of each Station, District and Division for the years 2015-2017 and as of 30 April 2018. I am advised by the Commissioner that the information sought by the Deputy as it relates to specific units is not readily available by District. In order to be of assistance, I have provided information by Division for the years 2015-2017 and as of 30 April 2018. I have requested the information sought on the number of Gardaí assigned to the Garda Mountain Bike and Mounted Units from the Commissioner and I will revert to the Deputy once this information is to hand.

Garda Reserve 2015 – 2018

*As of 30 April 2018

Detective Strength 2015 - 2018

*As of 30 April 2018

Traffic Corp 2015 - 2018

*As of 30 April 2018

Divisional Drug Unit Personnel 2015 - 2018

*As of 30 April 2018

Community Gardaí 2015 - 2018

*As of 30 April 2018