Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1065. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality how many drink driving arrests were made in each county or by Garda division in the country over the past ten years; how many drink driving tests were carried out in each county or Garda division in the past ten years; and how many convictions were achieved for drinking driving in each county or Garda division for the past ten years. [37184/23]

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, including operational policing matters. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.

However, to be of assistance I sought the information requested by the Deputy from An Garda Síochána and have been advised that the table appended to this answer lays out the breakdown per division of the number of incidents of type ‘Intoxicated Driving a Vehicle’ and ‘Intoxicated In Charge of a Vehicle’ where alcohol was a known intoxicant, as recorded on the Garda PULSE system.

I am further informed that these figures relate to incidents where alcohol was a known intoxicant, and are based on incidents which were reported between 1 January 2014 and 23 August 2023, inclusive. All information contained in this report is based upon operational data from the PULSE system as was available on 23 August 2023 and is liable to change.

The Garda authorities have also advised that they cannot provide a breakdown of how many drink driving tests were carried out, as the details of all tests are not recorded on the PULSE system.

I can also advise the Deputy that management of the courts, including operational matters and logistical functions, are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and given the separation of powers in the Constitution.

The Courts Service maintains data on convictions, and has a dedicated email address for the provision of information to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas: oireachtasenquiries@courts.ie.

* 2023 figures cover the period from 01/01/2023 to 23/08/2023.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1066. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality how many speeding arrests were made in each county or by Garda division in the country over the past ten years; how many speeding checkpoints were carried out in each county or Garda division in the past ten years; and how many convictions were achieved for speeding in each county or Garda division for the past ten years. [37185/23]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I have sought the information requested by the Deputy from An Garda Síochána, and will contact him again when this is to hand.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1067. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the lowest number of gardaí on duty in each sub district overnight in Meath for each of the past five years; how many Garda stations in Ireland have no full-time garda; and if she will identify the stations. [37186/23]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I can assure the Deputy the Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities and the 2023 budget of over €2 billion will allow for the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff, with Garda recruits entering Templemore approximately every 11 weeks.

Overall, since 2015 there has been an almost 9% net increase in the number of Gardaí. These Gardaí are supported by around 3,140 Garda staff, which is over 56% more than the number of staff in 2015. This increases the availability of Gardaí to concentrate on front-line policing duties.

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 distribution and stationing of the Garda Síochána throughout the State. As Minister, I have no role in these independent functions.

I am assured by the Commissioner that the requirements of all Garda Divisions nationwide are taken into account, which include, but are not limited to:

- 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

I also understand that local and senior Garda management are consulted during the allocation of personnel and are responsible for the specific deployment and assignment of duties being undertaken at divisional level. The situation remains closely monitored by the Garda Senior Leadership Team, particularly in view of commitments to the continued roll-out of the operating model of policing at divisional level to ensure optimum use of all Garda Resources in providing the best possible Garda service to the community.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that the information requested by the Deputy cannot be provided. I am informed that while Members may be allocated to a particular station they may, for operational reasons, be deployed elsewhere. I am further informed that it is not possible to provide a figure for the number of Gardaí on duty at any one time due to the fluctuating nature of crossovers, rosters, and other necessary operational changes.

The table appended below sets out the number of Gardaí nationwide by division, district and station from the end of December 2019 up to the end of December 2022 and at the end of July 2023, the latest date for when figures are available.

All information provided above is based upon operational data which has been provided by An Garda Síochána and may be subject to change.

The Deputy will wish to be aware that in the interest of transparency, detailed statistics on Garda workforce numbers are published on gov.ie and are updated regularly by my Department from information provided by An Garda Síochána. The statistics can be accessed using the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/bd777-an-garda-siochana-your-police-service-some-facts-and-figures/

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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1068. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of drones in the Garda air fleet. [37241/23]

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, including the purchase, allocation, and effective and efficient use of Garda equipment. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.

However, to be of assistance I sought the information requested by the Deputy from An Garda Síochána and have been advised that An Garda Síochána is currently conducting ongoing trials with a number of unmanned aircraft systems (drones) and there is an internal Garda working group tasked with examining the wider potential and scope to use drones to assist in various policing operations.

I am further advised that 21 drones have been procured by An Garda Síochána for evaluation, training and possible future operational use in the Garda Air Support Unit.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1069. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to outline the shortest, median and longest response times to emergency calls in each Garda division against any designated response time target; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37243/23]

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, including responses by An Garda Síochána to emergency calls. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that An Garda Síochána operates a Regional Control Room strategy which ensures that Garda resources are available to respond to calls for service from the public, including situations where a local resource is not immediately available.

Calls for service, whether received through a local Garda station or the 999 ECAS system, are routed through the Regional Control Rooms and prioritised for response. Higher priority calls will always take priority over lower priority calls.

The Garda authorities also inform me that An Garda Síochána aim to answer 80% of 999 calls within seven seconds and deploy resources immediately giving an estimated time of arrival. An Garda Síochána will take appropriate steps to deal with all incidents and ensure that emergency and life threatening calls receive priority. They will endeavour to get to callers within 15 minutes in urban locations and as soon as possible, given the distance to be travelled, in more rural areas.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that the requested statistics relating to Garda response times for emergency call-outs throughout the country are not readily available at this time.