Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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228. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to set out the number of gardaí with foreign language skills in each Garda division; and the resources available to and the approach taken by An Garda Síochána to deal with language barriers. [28961/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for carrying on, managing and controlling generally the administration and business of An Garda Síochána and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter.

I am informed by the Garda Commissioner that the information sought in relation to the number of Gardaí with foreign language skills in each Garda division is not readily available and would take a disproportionate amount of time and resources to collate.

I am advised that in circumstances where language difficulties arise, An Garda Síochána engages the services of professional, interpretation and translation services.

I am further informed that the Garda Bureau of Community Diversity and Integration (GBCDI) has national responsibility for liaison with ethnically diverse communities and one of its central roles is to liaise with representatives of minority groups.

Garda Ethnic Liaison Officers (ELO) are appointed in each Garda Division. The role of the Ethnic Liaison Officer is to liaise and establish communication links with representatives of the various minority communities within their respective Divisions. The Ethnic Liaison Officers also inform and assure these communities of the Garda services available to all communities, within the community. The list of Ethnic Liaison Officers is available on the Garda website at www.garda.ie.