Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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299. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of community gardaí in the Mallow Garda district; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36784/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The resources provided by Government to An Garda Síochána have reached unprecedented levels, with an allocation of €1.88 billion in 2020 and of €1.952 billion in 2021. This has enabled sustained ongoing recruitment into the organisation.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the general management and administration of the Garda organisation under the Garda Síochána Act 2005. This includes the deployment of members of An Garda Síochána throughout the State. As Minister, I have no role in these independent functions.

However, I am assure 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 am informed by the Garda authorities that, as of 31 May 2021, there is currently one designated Community Garda assigned to the Mallow district, who is one of 7 Community Gardaí assigned to the Cork North Division.

It is important to note that the official categorisation as a Community Garda simply refers to those officers who are exclusively assigned to particular community engagement tasks. In overall terms, however, community policing is at the heart of An Garda Síochána and all Gardaí have a role to play in community policing in carrying out their duties. In this regard, as at 31 May 2021, there were 116 Gardaí assigned to the Mallow District, which represents an increase of 17% since 2015. These Garda members are supported by 7 Garda staff.