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 distribution of Garda members between the different Garda units and Divisions. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.

I can, however, assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities and a strengthened, well-resourced Garda Síochána is central to this policy. This commitment is demonstrated by the unprecedented provision of more than €2.3 billion to the Garda Vote this year, which is allowing for sustained and ongoing recruitment and investment in new equipment and new vehicles.

In addition to new recruits, the roll-out of the new Garda Operating Model will support the redeployment of Gardaí from non-core duties to front-line policing across the country. The new model will see larger Divisions with more resources, increased Garda visibility in communities, a wider range of locally delivered policing services, and a strong focus on community policing.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that as of 29 February 2024, the latest date for when figures are available, there was a total of 13,930 Garda members nationwide. This represents an increase of almost 9% since the end of December 2015. In addition, the civilianisation programme has freed up almost 900 Garda members from back office work for front line policing work since 2015.

The full information requested by the Deputy is not readily available and would require a disproportionate amount of Garda time and resources to compile. However, to be of assistance I have provided the information below on Garda numbers. Please be advised that all the information provided is operational and may be subject to change.

The table below, which was provided to me by the Garda authorities, sets out the number of Garda members nationwide for the years 2007 up to the end of February 2024.

Garda Workforce	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	29/02/2024
Total	13,755	14,412	14,547	14,377	13,894	13,424	13,093	12,799	12,816	12,943	13,551	14,032	14,307	14,491	14,235	14,133	13,998	13,930

The table below sets out the number of trainees who entered the Garda college in the years 2014 up to 2024 and the number of Garda members who attested in those years.

Year	Intake	Attested in year
2014	200	0
2015	351	296
2016	651	393
2017	811	883
2018	799	789
2019	600	605
2020	275	522
2021	384	148
2022	116	370
2023	746	388
2024	186	165
Total	5,119	4,559

The table below sets out the number of Garda members who retired in the years 2013 up to the end of March 2024.

Year	Retirements (Voluntary, Compulsory, Early)
2013	296
2014	249
2015	238
2016	228
2017	226
2018	218
2019	223
2020	250
2021	294
2022	340
2023	319
Jan-24	16
Feb-24	25
Mar-24	24
Total	2,946

I am advised that information in relation to the number of Garda members on sick leave from 2019 up to February 2024 can be found in the Garda Commissioner reports to the Policing Authority. I have copied a link to this information for reference.

www.garda.ie/en/about-us/publications/general-reports/commissioner-s-monthly-reports-to-policing-authority/

Information in relation to the allocation of Gardaí by Division and Station can be found at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/bd777-an-garda-siochana-your-police-service-some-facts-and-figures/

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Combatting all forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based remains a priority for this Government, for the Department of Justice and for the Garda Commissioner.

'Zero Tolerance,' the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence (DSGBV), sets out an ambitious whole of government five-year programme of reform to achieve a society which does not accept DSGBV or the attitudes which underpin these crimes. The Strategy, which was co-designed with the sector, also has a significant focus on improving the system for victims of these terrible crimes and on ensuring there is a full range of supports and services available nationwide to support and empower victims and survivors.

I can assure the Deputy that creating a criminal justice system that supports and protects victims at every stage of their journey through it, is and will remain a priority. To ensure this is the case, An Garda Síochána and my Department are continuing to work hard to strengthen trust and confidence in the system so that victims are confident in coming forward to report what has happened to them and get justice.

An Garda Síochána prioritise and proactively respond to incidents of domestic abuse and as the Deputy may be aware, there is now a Divisional Protective Services Unit in each Garda Division, meaning specialised teams are in place nationwide to engage with vulnerable victims in these most difficult cases.

As part of delivering on the commitments under the Third National Strategy, I have strengthened the law to combat all forms of domestic, sexual and gender based violence, including by introducing new stand-alone offences of stalking and non-fatal strangulation and by doubling to 10 years the maximum sentence for assault causing harm, this being one of the most common offences in domestic violence cases. I am also progressing a new Sexual Offences Bill which will, among other things, improve supports for victims.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management of An Garda Síochána, and all Garda operations, including the recording of charges.

In relation to the recording of convictions, the Deputy will also be aware 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 has a dedicated email address for the provision of information to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas: oireachtasenquiries@courts.ie.

To be of assistance, I have contacted both agencies on the Deputy's behalf.

In relation to breaches of domestic violence orders, An Garda Síochána have provided the following information:

		2021		2022		2023
Incident Type	Incidents	Arrests	Incidents	Arrests	Incidents	Arrests
Breach of Barring Order	742	411	697	356	664	316
Breach of Interim Barring Order	144	107	137	80	159	95
Breach of Protection Order	2096	1302	2305	1353	2440	1275
Breach of Safety Order	1693	1072	1598	924	1841	991
Grand Total	4675	2892	4737	2713	5104	2677

*This is operational data taken from PULSE on 4 April 2024 and is liable to change.

I am informed by the Court Service that they can only provide details of convictions that have been before the court, irrespective of when the report was made to An Garda Síochána.

The Courts Service have provided statistics on the number of convictions in cases that have been before the Courts for the years 2021, 2022, 2023 and the table below outlines the number of offences and the number of persons in the District Court where convictions haven been recorded for the period January 2021 – December 2023.

Year	Number of Offences where convictions were recorded	Number of Persons Convicted
2021	782	530
2022	699	502
2023	815	542
Total	2296	1574

* Courts can only provide data in relation to where offence codes provided on the system were used by prosecutors. Prosecutors may have used uncoded free text offences and any such offences would not be included in the data provided.