James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 183 and 184 together.

While the processing of all travel document applications has now resumed, the Travel Document Unit of my Department has unfortunately been impacted by the restrictions that were imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, regrettably, the processing time for both Convention Travel Documents for refugees and temporary travel documents is currently 27 weeks, upon receipt of a fully completed application.

As the Deputy may be aware, a travel document also needs to be printed in the Passport Office of the Department of Foreign Affairs. This can take up to two weeks once the application is finally approved and sent for printing. My Department is working closely with the Passport Office to reduce this backlog now that they have resumed printing all documents.

The Travel Document Unit of my Department reviews all travel document applications and submissions to ensure the application is fully completed, accurate and signed by An Garda Síochána. Checks are also undertaken to ensure that the applicant has supplied all of the requested documents, including the Permission letter, passport photographs, fee, and, if applicable, expired travel document or passport. Through this process, my Department assesses if the applicant, in relevant cases, is eligible for a travel document or if they can obtain a national passport.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible, under Section 26 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended) for the management and administration of Garda business, including the recruitment and training of Garda members and staff. As Minister I play no role in this independent function.

Budget 2022 commits to the recruitment of an additional 800 Gardaí next year and to the recruitment of an additional 400 Garda staff.

Garda numbers have increased substantially in recent years, from 12,943 Garda members and 1,999 Garda staff in 2016 to almost 14,400 Garda members and 3,159 staff at the end of August this year. That is an 8% increase in Gardaí and a 58% increase in Garda staff in recent years.

The 800 extra Gardaí in Budget 2022 also means that, by the end of 2022, there will be an estimated 14,600 fully attested members of An Garda Síochána and 600 in training - putting us on course to meet and beat our target of 15,000 sworn members of Garda Síochána.

Budget 2020 will bring the total number of Garda staff to 3,800, the highest ever number – ensuring that more Gardaí can focus on core policing duties rather than administration.

Since 2017, 820 Gardaí have been freed up for core policing duties because of the recruitment of staff in An Garda Síochána.

An Garda Síochána have advised that a recruitment plan for 2022 is currently being developed to reflect planned recruitment for Garda Members and Garda Staff roles. It is currently planned to launch a Garda Trainee competition in Q4 2021.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible, under Section 33 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), for the deployment of An Garda Síochána throughout the State. The Commissioner is also responsible, under Section 26 of the Act, for the management and administration of Garda business, including the recruitment and training of Garda members and staff. As Minister, I play no direct role in these independent functions.

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 further 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.

To date, the official categorisation as a Community Garda has simply referred to those exclusively assigned to building relationships with local communities and civil society including giving talks to schools, community groups and others. However, it is important to note that 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. Indeed, this is fundamental to the new Garda Operating Model recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland and currently being rolled out under 'A Policing Service for Our Future', the Government's implementation plan for the Commission's recommendations.

For the Deputy's information, the area referred to is covered by the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) South Central (SC) Division. As of 30 September 2021, the latest date for when figures are available, there were 58 members assigned as Community Gardaí in DMR SC, compared to 28 Community Gardaí the end of 2018, an increase of 30members or 51.72%.

The allocation at 30 September 2021 is broken down by rank and station in the following table for the Deputy's reference.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department provided €762,444 to Extern in 2020, relating to five projects. To date, the organisation has been paid €526,821 in 2021, and this amount is expected to rise to €795,711 by the end of the year – also in respect of five funded projects.

The Department suspended funding to this organisation in December 2020 when it became aware that an incident of alleged child abuse in another jurisdiction had not been reported to the appropriate authorities in this jurisdiction.

Following detailed and ongoing engagement with Extern by both my Department and Tusla, and receipt of assurances relating to the governance of the organisation, funding to this organisation was restored in April 2021.