Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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224. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí attached to the K district traffic division in each of the years 2017 to 2021 and to date in 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47653/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the administration and management of An Garda Síochána, this includes the allocation of resources and personnel. As Minister, I have no role in these matters.

I am assured, however, that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities, to ensure their optimum use. 

I am informed that many factors are taken into account with regards to allocation of resources including local and national crime trends and workloads, policing arrangements and operational strategies, minimum establishment statistics, local population and trends, geographical area and size, transfer applications, including welfare/personnel issues and concerns.

The table below, provided to me by Garda authorities, outlines the number of Gardaí attached to the traffic division in DMR West, of which the K District is part.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including personnel matters. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the total number of Gardaí as of 31 August 2022 was 14,283.

The table below, provided to me by the Garda authorities, outlines the number of Garda members unavailable for duty due to sick leave as of August 2022.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Budget allocation for 2023, announced earlier this week, increases funding to An Garda Síochána by over €78 million, bringing the total allocation for next year to €2.14 billion. This unprecedented amount will fund the recruitment of up to 1,000 new Garda recruits as well as over 400 Garda staff.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that at the end of August this year, there are 14,283 Garda members, supported by over 3,117(WTE) Garda staff. This represents an increase of almost 12% since 2015 when there were 12,816 Garda members throughout the country.

The recruitment campaign for An Garda Síochána in 2022 saw more than 11,000 people apply to join the service – and we will open another campaign next year to help us guarantee that there are  200 new recruits entering Templemore every three months over the coming years. 

This will provide a clear pipeline of recruits.

Garda management have indicated that tranches of 200 trainees will enter the college in February, May, July, October and December – 1,000 recruits into the college next year.

It should be noted that while Garda Members numbers have continued to grow over recent years, this growth has understandably been impacted by Covid-19 restrictions in the Garda College for much of 2020 and 2021, in common with other organisations. 

The table below, provided to me by the Garda authorities, outlines the number of new Gardaí recruited in 2020, 2021 and up to 31 August 2022.