Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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766. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí by rank attached to each burglary response unit as of 26 October 2021, in tabular form. [53048/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I have requested the information sought by the Deputy from An Garda Síochána, but I have not received this information in time. I will write to the Deputy as soon as the information is to hand.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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767. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí by rank attached to each of the regional cybercrime hubs as of 26 October 2021, in tabular form. [53049/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Deputy that the prevention and investigation of cybercrime is a priority for the Government and for An Garda Síochána. Budget 2022 provides over €2 billion in funding to An Garda Síochána. Since 2016 the budget for An Garda Síochána has increased by approximately €500m, or 33%. These funds are providing for continued investment in the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau, with ongoing expansion of the Bureau between this year and next, including the recruitment of 20 civilian expert posts at engineer grade.

As the Deputy will be aware, the allocation of funding for specific Garda projects is a matter for the Garda Commissioner, who under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, is responsible for the management and administration of the Garda organisation.

I am informed by the Garda Authorities that the expansion of the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB) is a priority project under the A Policing Service for our Future programme. The aim of this project is to significantly enhance the capacity and capabilities of GNCCB to tackle cybercrime in this jurisdiction, including the establishment of six GNCCB Cyber Satellite hubs strategically located throughout the country. I understand that the roll out of these regional cybercrime units is ongoing and to date funding has been provided for four Regional Cybercrime Hubs established in Wexford, Mullingar, Cork and Galway. Planning is currently underway for the establishment of two additional GNCCB Cyber Satellite hubs.

The Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCB) is led by a Detective Chief Superintendent. As of 30 September there are 45 Garda members attached to GNCCB, which represents an almost 100% increase on the 23 Garda members attached to the Bureau at end December 2020.

The Garda authorities have provided me with the below table, which details the number of Gardaí by rank attached to each of the regional cybercrime hubs as of 26 October 2021.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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768. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the estimated cost in 2022 of training 17 extra Garda forensic collision investigators in tabular form. [53050/21]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including all matters related to training and recruitment. As Minister, I have no direct role in these operational matters. I am assured however that the distribution of resources between the different Garda units and specialist roles is kept under constant review, in light of operational needs.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that the maximum number of members who can be facilitated on a Forensic Collision Investigator Training Courses is 12, which is restricted by the external trainers AITS UK. Therefore two courses would be required in order to train 17 members. Costs for AITS UK remain the same for each course up to a maximum of 12 members attending training. The cost of each course is €32,000, giving a total cost of €64,000 for training 17 members.

I am further advised that there are additional costs associated with overtime, subsistence and travel costs for a Senior FCI Instructor, again for two courses. The cost per course is €6,500, giving a total of €13,000 for two courses to be run. Therefore, the total cost for training 17 Forensic Collision Investigators is estimated by the Garda authorities to be €77,000.

The table below, which was furnished to me by the Garda authorities, outlines these costs.

Please note that these figures are based on 2019 costings.