Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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530. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of members and staff of An Garda Síochána, per grade, that resigned or were dismissed in each of the years 2018 to 2023 inclusive, in tabular form. [24137/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I have contacted An Garda Síochána for the information requested by the Deputy, regretfully this information was not available in time. I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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531. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of members and staff of An Garda Síochána, per grade, that resigned on health grounds in each of the years 2018 to 2023 inclusive, in tabular form. [24138/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including HR matters.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the table below sets out the number of Garda members and Garda staff who resigned on health grounds in the years 2018 to 2022, and up to 22 May 2023. Please note that these figures are operational and may change.

I am further informed that to break down these figures by rank or grade would risk identifying the individual cases and therefore I am unable to provide this information to the Deputy.

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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532. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of members of An Garda Síochána holding full-time equivalent posts at the rank of Sergeant, Inspector, Superintendent, Assistant Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner, in each of the years 2018 to 2023 inclusive, in tabular form. [24139/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, 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, including the recruitment and distribution of Garda members between the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.

I am however assured that the Commissioner keeps the allocation of these resources under continued review, in line with crime and population trends, to ensure their optimum use.

To be of assistance I sought the information requested by the Deputy from An Garda Síochána and have been advised that the table below sets out the number of Garda members in the posts as at 31 December each year and at 30 April 2023.

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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533. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of members of An Garda Síochána, by grade and by division, in administrative posts who are in receipt of overtime payments; and the value of those payments from 2018 to 2023 inclusive, in tabular form. [24140/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, 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 all HR matters relating to personnel within An Garda Síochána. As Minister I have no direct role in such matters.

I have been advised by the Garda authorities that they do not hold specific records in the overtime reporting system on the role of the recipient. Therefore, it is not possible to provide the requested information at this time.

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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534. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of complaints received by GSOC from 2018 to 2023 inclusive, in tabular form; and the number of those complaints that have resulted in a criminal complaint. [24141/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) is statutorily independent in its operation and administration. Specifically, under section 67(4) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, GSOC is independent in the exercise of its functions under the Act.

As Minister, I have no role in these functions, including investigations conducted by GSOC, or any reports submitted by GSOC to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Any decisions regarding prosecutions are matters for the DPP, who is completely independent in the exercise of her functions.

I am informed by GSOC that the the figures in the first table outline the number of complaints received by GSOC per year, the number of those resulting in a criminal investigation by GSOC, the number of referrals to GSOC by An Garda Síochána under section 102 of the Garda Síochána Act, and the number of these referrals that resulted in a criminal investigation.

These figures are drawn from information published in Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) statutory Annual Report 2018 – 2021. They are also drawn from the 2022 Annual Report which GSOC expects to publish in summer 2023.

I am advised by GSOC that 2023 figures should be treated as indicative only and do not represent official, published, statistical information from GSOC.

I am also advised by GSOC that information on cases, by its nature, is dynamic, and subject to update on foot of further information that may emerge during the course of an investigation.

I am informed by GSOC that the second table outlines the number of files sent to the DPP for the years in question:

*Please note that files sent to the DPP in a given year may have resulted from a complaint and / or referral received in previous year(s). A file is sent only on completion of an investigation, and investigations may take longer than one calendar year to complete.

** Figures for period of 1 January – 17 May 2023 inclusive.

The Deputy may also wish to be aware that section 102 of the Act provides for independent investigation of any matter that appears to indicate that the conduct of a member of the Garda Síochána may have resulted in the death of, or serious harm to a person. The provision forms an important element of the State’s framework for the guarantee of compliance with its obligations under Article 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The power to refer is delegated by the Garda Commissioner to superintendents whose responsibility it is to decide if it is appropriate to refer an incident, in order that it be investigated independently.

I am further advised that GSOC conducts criminal investigations on foot of both complaints and referrals, as well as in the context of public investigations.

On completion of a criminal investigation, if GSOC is of the opinion that the conduct under investigation may constitute an offence, a file is prepared and sent to the DPP.