Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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251. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí based in County Louth by location; the number, rank and status of each station; if additional gardaí have been requested to man individual stations; the number requested; if requests for gardaí on probation were included; if the opening hours and manning of these stations increased; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29564/18]

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 and Garda station opening hours, 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.

I am informed by the Commissioner that in regard to the deployment of Garda personnel, a distribution model is used which takes into account all relevant factors including population, crime trends and the policing needs of each individual Garda Division. It is the responsibility of the Divisional Officer to allocate personnel within his/her Division.

I am informed by the Commissioner that on 31 May 2018, the latest date for which figures are readily available, the strength of the Louth Division was 312. There are also 23 Garda Reserves and 31 civilians attached to the Division. 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.

I am informed by the Commissioner that since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, almost 2,000 recruits have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, of whom 76members have been assigned to the LouthDivision.  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, 400 of whom have attested to date.  Further, Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, are on track to reach 14,000 by the end of 2018.

In addition to the investment in more Gardaí, 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. We are now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí. Undoubtedly, the ongoing recruitment process will support all Garda activities and enhance visibility within our communities and will enable the Commissioner to provide additional resources across every Garda Division, including the Louth Division, as new Garda recruits continue to come on stream.

In so far as the allocation of newly attested Gardaí is concerned, this is a matter for the Commissioner.  I am assured by the Commissioner that the needs of all Garda Divisions are fully considered when determining the allocation of resources. However, it is important to keep in mind that newly attested Gardaí have a further 16 months of practical and class-room based training to complete in order to receive their BA in Applied Policing.  To ensure that they are properly supported and supervised and have opportunities to gain the breadth of policing experience required, the Commissioner's policy is to allocate them to specially designated training stations which have the required training and development structures and resources in place, including trained Garda tutors and access to a permanently appointed supervisory Sergeant who is thoroughly familiar with their responsibilities under the training programme. While not all Garda Stations are training stations it is important to note that the allocation of probationer Gardaí to a Divisional training station facilitates the reassignment of Gardaí to other stations within the Division, if required, by the Divisional Officer.

For the Deputy’s information I have set out in tabular form the number for Gardaí assigned to the Louth Division by rank, on the 31 May 2018 the latest date for which figures are currently available and details of the Division’s Garda Stations opening hours which are subject to the operational requirements of the Division.

STRENGTH OF THELOUTH DIVISION BY RANK 31 MAY 2018

Due to ongoing checkpoints Drumad and Hackballscross are currently unable to open between 5pm and 8 pm