John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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580. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí allocated to counties Carlow, Kilkenny and Waterford over the past five years; the number of Garda stations closed in each of the past five years in each county; and the number of personnel attached to each special unit such as serious crime, drugs and others [16463/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs, with an unprecedented allocation provided in Budget 2022 of over €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 on 16 March. I welcome the strong interest in this campaign, with over 10,000 applications received.

Additionally, over 800 Garda members have also been redeployed in recent years from administrative duties to frontline policing roles where their expertise can be utilised fully. The continual commitment to this policy of redeployment has impacted and will continue to impact positively on local communities across the country, contributing to a more visible police presence.

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 deployment of personnel among the various Garda Divisions. The Deputy will appreciate that, as Minister, I have no direct role in these operational, policing matters.

I am assured that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review in the context of policing priorities and crime trends, to ensure their optimum use. The full complement of resources fluctuates on an ongoing basis and where a deficiency in resources is identified, the matter is considered fully and addressed accordingly.

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.

In the interests of transparency, detailed information in relation to Garda numbers is available on my Department’s website. This information is updated every month with the latest data provided by An Garda Síochána, and includes the number of Gardaí by station across the whole country.

The information can be found at the following link: www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/An_Garda_Siochana_facts_and_figures

The Deputy also sought details in relation to the number of Garda personnel attached to Garda specialist units. I hope the Deputy will appreciate that, for security reasons, An Garda Síochána does not provide this information by Garda Division. However, I can provide divisional information on the number of Garda members assigned to the Kilkenny/Carlow and Waterford Divisional Drugs Units for 2018 and for each subsequent year up to and including 28 February 2022. This information is set out in the following tables, which have been provided to me by the Garda authorities:

As regards the number of Garda stations closed in the Kilkenny/Carlow and Waterford Divisions in each of the past 5 years, I have been informed by the Garda authorities that there are currently 25 operational Garda stations in Kilkenny/Carlow Division and 14 Garda stations operational in Waterford Division. I am further informed that no Garda stations were closed in these divisions from 2018 to date.