Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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1302. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí and civilian staff in Dublin metropolitan region north in 2012 and to date in 2022; and the number that are assigned to each unit. [20683/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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 Commissioner is also responsible for the recruitment and training of Garda members and staff under the Act and, as Minister, I have no direct role in these independent functions. 

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.   In this regard I welcome the strong interest shown in the latest Garda recruitment competition, 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.

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. 

I am advised by the Garda authorities that at 31 March 2022, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 802 Garda members and 65 Garda staff assigned to the DMR North Division. This represents respective increases of 8% and 38% respectively since December 2012, when there were 744 Gardaí and 47 Garda staff assigned to the Division. 

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.