Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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436. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí assigned to the K district; the number of gardaí assigned to different departments; and the number of vehicles attached to stations in the K district, in tabular form. [43032/20]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for the management of An Garda Síochána, including personnel matters and deployment of resources. As Minister, I have no responsibility for these matters. I am assured that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities, to ensure their optimum use.

The K District is located within the DMR West Division. This District refers to the Garda stations located at Blanchardstown, Finglas and Cabra. I am informed by the Garda authorities that the number of Gardaí stationed in the requested Garda Stations as of 30 November 2020 is as follows:

As of the same date there were 4 Garda staff assigned to Cabra Garda station, 8 Garda staff assigned to Finglas Garda station and 34 Garda staff assigned to Blanchardstown Garda station.

In relation to Community Policing in the K District, I have been advised by the Garda authorities that at end October 2020 there were 16 Community Gardaí assigned to Blanchardstown Garda station, 6 Community Gardaí assigned to Cabra Garda station and 17 assigned to Finglas Garda station.

The Deputy also sought details in relation to the Garda fleet for the aforementioned Garda stations. I hope the Deputy will appreciate that, for security reasons, An Garda Síochána do not provide vehicle allocations by Garda station. However, the following table, conveyed to me by the Garda authorities, sets out the vehicles attached to the DMR West at 30 November 2020.

*The category 'Others' refers to MPV, SUV, Minibus or Prisoner Conveyance Vehicles.

A detailed breakdown of Garda numbers by Division, District and Station is available on my Department’s website, in the interests of transparency and for the convenience of Deputies and the wider public. This information is updated every month with the latest data provided by An Garda Síochána. The Information on Garda members may be accessed at the following link: www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/Garda_Workforce.

An Garda Síochána has been allocated an unprecedented budget of €1.952 billion for 2021. The significant level of funding provided over recent years is enabling sustained, ongoing recruitment of Garda members and staff. As a result, there are now some 14,600 Garda members and over 3,000 Garda staff nationwide. Budget 2021 will allow for the recruitment of up to620 new Gardaí and an extra 500 Garda staff.The Budget allocation also provides for an increase in supervisory ranks at Sergeant and Inspector level.

More Garda recruits and more Garda staff means extra members of the service on the frontline and in specialist units battling organised crime groups, supporting victims, and keeping people safe.