Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to fight crime. An Garda Síochána has been allocated unprecedented funding of over €2.35 billion for 2024, a 25% increase since 2020 allowing for the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff.

As the Deputy is aware, it is the responsibility of Garda management to manage and keep under review the distribution of resources in the context of crime trends and policing priorities.

Since the reopening of the Garda College in 2014, a total of 157 new recruits have been assigned to Meath Division; 21 of those were assigned in 2023, including 11 to East Meath. This has contributed to the number of Gardaí in the East Meath district of Ashbourne growing by almost 15% since 2015, higher than the national increase of 9% for the same period. A further Garda attestation is scheduled to take place on 22 March.

At the end of December this year there were 118 Garda members assigned to the Ashbourne District, including 98 Gardaí, 16 Sergeants, 3 Inspectors and 1 Superintendent. In addition, there is a total of 9 Garda staff assigned to the Ashbourne District, which represents a significant increase since 2015 when there were 5.

I am pleased to note that since 2020, 65 newly attested Gardaí have been assigned to Meath, as compared to 46 Gardaí who have retired from the Meath Division in the same period. It is not the practice to report these numbers by District, in order to ensure that individuals cannot be identified.

I am grateful to all of these women and men who give exceptional service to the community.

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