Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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703. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of cases that the Meath protective services unit has dealt with since being established. [12727/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Divisional Protective Services Unit for Westmeath/Meath was established on 29 September 2020. The unit was established across Westmeath and Meath in anticipation of the amalgamation of both Divisions under the new Operating Model and has two offices based in Athlone, Co. Westmeath and Navan, Co Meath. The unit operates in a joint approach regarding referrals received in terms of investigations with significant cooperation between both offices.

The current structure of this Protective Services Unit is one Inspector, two Detective Sergeants and 10 Detective Gardaí. The Deputy may wish to know that on 16 March 2021, two additional Detective Gardaí are scheduled to be allocated to the Protective Services Unit.

As of 8 March 2021, the date for which figures are most readily available, the number of investigations associated with Westmeath/Meath DPSU unit stands at 211 incidents.