Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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536. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí who were assigned to stations in County Meath in each of the years 2018 to 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [15834/22]

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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537. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí who were assigned to stations in County Westmeath in each of the years 2018 to 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [15835/22]

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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539. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí who were assigned to stations in County Westmeath in each of the years 2018 to 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [15837/22]

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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540. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí who are assigned currently assigned to stations in County Meath, by station in tabular form. [15838/22]

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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541. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the total number of gardaí currently assigned to stations in County Westmeath, by station in tabular form. [15839/22]

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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542. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí currently employed in each county per head of population in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15840/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 536, 537, 539, and 540 to 542, inclusive, together.

The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs, with an unprecedented allocation provided in Budget 2022 of in excess of €2 billion. This includes funding for the recruitment of up to an additional 800 Garda members and up to 400 Garda staff.

It should be noted that many of the Garda members to be recruited will be drawn from the recent Garda recruitment competition, which closed earlier in the month. I am advised that interest in the campaign was strong, with over 10,000 applications received, and this is an excellent response.

I would add that over 800 Garda members have also been redeployed in recent years from administrative duties to frontline policing roles as part of the ongoing implementation of the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.

As the Deputy will be aware, in accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, which includes decisions on the distribution of personnel among the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.

Garda management have indicated that it is not appropriate to determine the allocation of Garda resources simply on the basis of population size alone. I am assured, however, that Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review taking into account all relevant factors including population, crime trends and the policing needs of each individual Garda Division. Where a deficiency in resources is identified, the matter is considered fully and addressed accordingly.

For the Deputy's information, the table included in the attached spreadsheet sets out the information requested by the Deputy.

The Deputy may wish to be aware that the majority of the information sought by the Deputy is made publicly available by both my Department and An Garda Síochána in tabular form and updated monthly. Information can be found at the following link on my Department's website:

www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/Garda_Workforce

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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538. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí who were assigned to stations in County Meath who retired in each of the years 2018 to 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [15836/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, in accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for managing and controlling the administration and business of An Garda Síochána, including the recruitment and assignment of Garda members and staff.

Retirement of members of An Garda Síochána is governed by law, which sets the mandatory retirement age for all members at 60 years of age. Members of An Garda Síochána who joined prior to 1 April 2004 may retire on full pension at 50 years of age once they have served at least 30 years and those who joined on or after 1 April 2004 may retire on full pension at 55 years of age with 30 years service. Gardaí have the option of continuing to serve until they reach 60, subject to the Garda Commissioner being satisfied that they are fully competent and available to undertake their duties.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that a total of 25 Garda members retired from the Meath Division during the period requested by the Deputy and the table below sets out these retirements by rank and year.

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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543. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of community gardaí who are assigned in County Meath by station in tabular form. [15841/22]

Johnny Guirke (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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544. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of community gardaí that are assigned in County Westmeath by station in tabular form. [15842/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 543 and 544 together.

The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs, with the unprecedented allocation provided in Budget 2022 of in excess of €2 billion. This includes funding for the recruitment of up to an additional 800 Garda members and up to 400 Garda Staff.

As the Deputy will be aware, in accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, which includes decisions on the deployment of personnel among the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.

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 them, having regard to the profile of each area within the Division and its specific needs.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that on 28 February 2022, the latest date for which figures are available, there were a total of 793 Community Gardaí. This represents an increase of 14% since December 2018 when there were 695 Community Gardaí nationally.

For the Deputy's information, the table below sets out the number of Community Gardaí assigned to Garda stations in Meath and Westmeath Division at 28 February 2022.

To date, the official categorisation as a Community Garda has simply referred to those who are exclusively assigned to building relationships with local communities and civil society, including giving talks to schools, community groups and others. It is important to note, however, that community policing is at the heart of An Garda Síochána and that all Gardaí have a role to play in community policing in the course of 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.