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, which includes the recruitment and training of Garda members and staff. As Minister, I have no role in these independent functions.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that it is difficult to provide one estimate to the question given the variety of learning options, both internal and external that are available.

The duration and format are significant factors in the costing of any proposed training course. Some other factors that will impact costing include:

• number of days training,
• subsistence cost,
• extraction cost (replacement members on overtime),
• cost of external providers,
• cost of regional venues and
• Garda Instructors, etc.

The Garda College does not currently provide a GDPR and data protection training course for members by District.

External training provided in this area and incorporated into the training plan includes an Advanced Diploma in Data Protection, a bespoke Data Protection in Law Enforcement course and specialist courses in Data Protection Audits and Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs).

Internal training and awareness raising is also provided by the An Garda Síochána Data Protection Unit, including an overview of key elements of Data Protection legislation delivered through in person training sessions to internal networks and business areas, and incorporated as part of development courses available on the Garda College Learner Management System (LMS).