Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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450. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí assigned to each Garda station in Limerick; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43242/20]

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 and administration of An Garda Síochána, including personnel matters and deployment of resources. The allocation of Garda resources is made in light of identified operational demand. This includes deployment of personnel among the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no direct role in the matter.

I am assured, however, that Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of policing priorities and crime trends, to ensure their optimum use. I understand that it is a matter for the Divisional Chief Superintendent to determine the optimum distribution of duties among the personnel available to him or her, having regard to the profile of each area within the Division and its specific needs.

An Garda Síochána has been allocated an unprecedented budget of €1.952 billion for 2021. This level of funding is enabling sustained, ongoing recruitment of Garda members and staff. As a result, Garda numbers 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.

To be of assistance to the Deputy, appended to this answer is a breakdown of the Garda numbers in Limerick furnished to me by the Garda authorities, as of 31 October, the latest date for which figures are available.

Detailed information in relation to Garda numbers is available on my Department’s website. This information is updated every month with the latest data provided by An Garda Síochána, and includes the number of Gardaí by station across the whole country. The information can be found at the following link: .

Additional information on Garda staff, the Garda Workforce and other facts and figures are available at the following link: www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/An_Garda_Siochana_facts_and_figures.

GARDA STATISTICS MONTH ENDING 31 October 2020