Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 534 and 536 together.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána. This includes all matters related to the training of Garda members. As Minister I have no role in these matters.

I have been informed by the Garda authorities that were no basic M3 shotgun courses, and five Steyr precision rifle refresher courses, held in 2023.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is referring to Parliamentary Question number 49298 of 14 November 2023 where he sought the amount spent by An Garda Síochána on upgrading firearms and other weaponry available to armed Garda personnel in 2022 and to date in 2023.

I can assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities and strengthening An Garda Síochána is at the core of that. Budget 2024 provided an unprecedented budget of €2.3 billion for the Garda vote, a total increase of 23% since 2020. This allocation underlines the commitment to provide An Garda Síochána with the resources it needs to ensure communities around Ireland are safe and feel safe, including to invest in recruitment, in equipment and technology and in buildings.

The tables below, furnished to me by the Garda authorities, outlines the amount spent by An Garda Síochána on upgrading accessories/optics for official Garda firearms and the amount spent on Firearms/Taser upgrade in 2022 and to date in 2023.

An Garda Síochána spend on upgrading accessories/optics for official Garda Firearms

An Garda Síochána spend on Firearms /Taser Upgrade

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware the Garda Commissioner is operationally responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána. This includes the allocation of Garda members to specialist units. As Minister I have no role in these matters.

I have been advised by Garda authorities that there are 19 Garda public order tactical advisors commanders across the Garda Divisions in the Dublin Metropolitan Region. These posts have been filled by Garda members across the ranks of Garda, Sergeant and Inspector.

I have been informed that it is not possible to give a more detailed breakdown of the assignment these members by division and rank. When the number of Garda members are fewer than 10, An Garda Síochána do not disclose details for security reasons as members may be identified.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy if referring to Parliamentary Question number 48966 of 13 November 2023 where he sought the budget allocation for the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau in the years 2021. 2022 and 2023.

I am now advised by the Garda authorities that it is not possible to provide a figure for the budget allocation for the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau. This unit is part of the Organised and Serious Crime Branch and does not have a specific overall budget allocated to it.

I can assure the Deputy that I am committed to providing An Garda Síochána with the resources they need to make sure communities around Ireland are safe and feel safe. This is reflected in the unprecedented allocation of €2.3 billion in Budget 2024 - a 23% increase since 2020, allowing for sustained investment in recruitment, equipment and technology.

As the Deputy will be aware, under Section 26 (1) (b) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána. Under the Act, the Garda Commissioner is the Accounting Officer for An Garda Síochána. Decisions on future allocations and spending in relation to Garda units are under the Commissioner's remit. As Minister, I have no role in this matter.

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 any decisions relating to procurement of services. 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 where appropriate, An Garda Síochána can employ external third party companies to get the image quality improved on CCTV images. In the event that such third party companies are engaged, this would occur at investigation level through relevant divisions.

I am advised by An Garda Síochána that due to the manner in which such costs are recorded, the relevant information is not readily available and would require a disproportionate amount of Garda time and resources to compile.

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 for training and equipping Garda members. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.

As the Deputy may be aware, the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, at the request of the Policing Authority, carried out a review of public order policing. The context for the review was the Authority’s oversight and assessment of Garda performance at two public order incidents that occurred at An Cosán and North Frederick Street, in 2014 and 2018 respectively, as well as its assessment of An Garda Síochána’s reports on these incidents.

The Inspectorate published its report ‘Public Order Policing – A review of practices in the Garda Síochána’ in April 2019. The Policing Authority has had a number of oversight meetings with An Garda Síochána held in public and private to consider the progress made in the areas highlighted in the report including the command structure, policy, training and the process of review and learning lessons. This work is ongoing.

As the Deputy will be aware, under recommendation ten of the report, the Inspectorate recommends that staff in the new regional control rooms and the DMR Command and Control Centre have the capacity and capability to manage all spontaneous incidents, such as critical firearms and public order incidents.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that An Garda Síochána operates four Regional Control Centres to handle calls for service and to dispatch resources. Each centre has a number of personnel who operate as Critical and Firearms Incident Command (CFIC) Dispatchers. These personnel undergo a one week specialist training course with the Special Tactics & Operations Command of An Garda Síochána.

They are trained to coordinate the response of An Garda Síochána to critical incidents and firearms incidents. The CFIC Dispatcher is required to dispatch the appropriate level of response necessary to deal with the incident and to control those resources until the incident is resolved. Training in relation to CFIC has been ongoing since 2018.

I am advised that the training provided to CFIC Dispatchers is currently under review with a view to expanding it to include additional training in public order and the management of vehicle pursuits. To progress this, the Garda National Public Order Steering Group members and representatives from the Regional Control Centres have developed a lesson plan in relation to the deployment of Public Order personnel and tactical advisors. The plan must now be approved internally for implementation and roll out in line with the national structure of Regional Control Centres.

In addition, in quarter 1 2022, a briefing seminar was delivered to DMR Senior management in relation to the Garda National Public Order Unit (GNPOU) capabilities and the role of tactical advisors, the plan is to roll these briefings out as part of the wider Garda National Public Order Steering Group (GNPOSG) work.

Under recommendation eleven of the report, the Inspectorate recommends that the Department of Justice plan legislation for the recording of images in public, and fully supports the use of photographic and video equipment by the Garda Síochána at public events for evidence-gathering purposes.

As the Deputy may be aware, the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act recently passed all remaining stages in the Dáil, and will now go to the President for signature. The Act provides for body worn cameras, Garda CCTV, automatic number plate recognition, and Community CCTV.

Importantly, the crucial introduction of body-worn cameras is being accelerated through a separate proof of concept (POC) project involving the deployment of body-worn cameras in Dublin city centre.

I have also instructed my officials to include the offences of rioting and violent disorder in the new Facial Recognition Bill, which will be ready to go to Government as soon as possible.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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541. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí graduating from Templemore in the latest allocation. [54769/23]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities – and strengthening An Garda Síochána is at the core of that. We will continue to provide An Garda Síochána with the resources it needs to ensure communities around Ireland are safe and feel safe.

The Government has allocated the highest ever budget to An Garda Síochána. The unprecedented allocation of over €2 billion for 2023 and a further €2.31 billion for 2024 demonstrates the Government's commitment to ensuring An Garda Síochána has provision for the equipment, technology, facilities, fleet and personnel it needs to carry out vital policing work.

This level of funding is providing for a steady pipeline of new Gardaí, with new recruits entering the Garda College approximately every 11 weeks.

The closure of the Garda College for much of 2020 and 2021 as a result of COVID-19 had a significant impact on Garda numbers. However, the number of recruits has continued to grow since its re-opening. A total of 637 trainees entered the training college so far in 2023. Another class is due to enter Templemore in December putting An Garda Síochána on track for between 700 and 800 new recruits into the college this year.

The next attestation, which was scheduled for the 12 January, has been brought forward to the 15 December. Over 150 trainees will attest on this date and will be deployed for policing duties over the Christmas period.

It is important to note that they will return to the college to complete their studies at a later date. A similar approach was taken in March 2020 when two classes attested early to support the policing response to COVID-19.