Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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242. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the strength of the Garda force by rank in each station in a Garda division (details supplied) as at January 2017, January 2018 and April 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17744/19]

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 Cork City Division on 28 February 2019, the latest date for which figures are readily available, was 702. There are also 38 Garda Reserves and 88 Garda civilian staff attached to the Cork City 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.

The Garda strength of Cork City Division from 2009 to 28 February 2019 as provided by the Garda Commissioner is available on my Department’s website through the following link.

Garda_Numbers_by_Division_District_and_Station_2009_to_February_2019.xlsx

Since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014, almost 2,600 Garda recruits have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, of whom 69 were assigned to the Cork City 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 now informed me that he plans to recruit a total of 600 trainee Gardaí in 2019 and a net 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 Cork City Division.

For more general information on Garda Facts and Figures please see the following link.

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