Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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558. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the services being provided in the new Garda divisional headquarters in County Galway; the number of staff stationed at the facility by members of the force and civilian staff; the number of hours per day staff are working at the facility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13826/19]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the manner in which the resources of the Garda Síochána are deployed is solely a matter for the Garda Commissioner and his management team and I, as Minister, have no direct role in this regard.

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 advised by the Commissioner that the Garda strength of the Galway Division on 31 January 2019 the latest date for which figures are readily available was 606, of whom 113 are assigned to the Western Region HQ. There are also 28 Garda Reserves and 77 Garda civilian staff attached to the Galway 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 Garda National Economic Crime Bureau and the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

Since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, almost 2,600 Garda recruits have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, of whom 41 members have been assigned to the Galway Division.

The Government has increased the budget for An Garda Síochána to €1.76 billion for 2019, which includes provision for the recruitment of up to 800 Gardaí this year. The Commissioner has informed me that he plans to recruit a total of 600 trainee Gardaí in 2019 and 600 Garda Civilian Staff. This Garda Staff recruitment will allow the Commissioner to redeploy a further 500 fully trained Gardaí from administrative duties to frontline policing in 2019.

I believe that the injection of this large number of experienced officers into the field, along with the new recruits, will be really beneficial in terms of protecting communities. This and on-going recruitment will clearly provide the Commissioner with the resources needed to deploy increasing numbers of Gardaí to deliver a visible effective and responsive policing service to communities across all Garda Divisions including the Galway Division.

The Western Region Garda Headquarters, Galway, was officially opened on 20 July 2018, and is open 24 hours a day.

The headquarters includes a number of important facilities for delivery of policing services to the community of Galway and the Western Region including:

- Garda Analysis Service,

- Regional Tasking Unit and Regional Detective Superintendent,

- Regional Health and Safety Advisor,

- Assistant Commissioner and Staff,

- Chief Superintendent and Staff,

- Crime Superintendent, Detective Inspector and Staff,

- Assistant Principal and Divisional Administration, Finance and HR Staff,

- Northern and Western Bi Regional Communications; - 999 Centre and CAD Mobile Dispatch (Command and Control),

- Continuous Professional Development / In-service,

- Superintendent i/c Governance, Performance and Standards,

- Divisional Protective Service Unit,

- Crime Prevention Officer,

- Juvenile Liaison Officers,

- Divisional Roads Policing Unit,

- Scenes of Crime Unit,

- Divisional Drugs Unit,

- Immigration Unit,

- Custody Suite,

- Public Office,

- Towing Office,

- PSV Applications Office,

- PEMS Store,

- Radio / Telecommunications Office,

- Dog Kennels and Associated Offices,

- PSV Garage.

The Garda strength of the Galway Division from 2009 to 31 January 2019 as provided by the Garda Commissioner is available on my Department’s website through the link below.

The Garda staff strength attached to the Galway Division from 2009 to 31 January 2019 as provided by the Garda Commissioner is available on my Department’s website through the link below.

For more general information on Garda Facts and Figures please see the link below:

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