Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1460.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Gardaí who have been assaulted while on duty in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024, in tabular form. [31235/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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We are all immensely grateful to our Gardaí for their outstanding dedication and commitment to serving the public and for the important role that they play in our society.

For the most part, the relationship between Gardaí and the public is one built on very significant trust. We only have to look to the fact that An Garda Síochána is a largely unarmed, and yet hugely effective, community policing service.

As the Deputy will be aware, an assault on a member of An Garda Síochána, a prison officer, a member of the fire brigade, ambulance personnel, or a member of the Defence Forces is already an offence under section 19 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994.

In November of last year, the Government increased the maximum sentence for assaulting or threatening to assault a Garda or other on-duty emergency workers from 7 to 12 years.

These changes send a very clear message that attacks on frontline workers will not be tolerated, and will be dealt with robustly.

I am informed by the Gardaí that across the last ten years, and to date in 2024, there has been a total of 3,090 reports of Gardaí sustaining occupational injuries as a result of being assaulted.

The table below, provided to me by the Gardaí, outlines a breakdown of these figures for each year.

Number of Gardaí who reported sustaining an occupational injury as a result of being assaulted in the last ten years and to date in 2024 (as of 11/07/2024)

These figures was collated from data in the Garda Employee Management System (GEMS) on 11 July 2024.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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1461.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Gardaí working in road policing currently, and the number in each of the past ten years, in tabular form. [31236/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Road safety is a shared responsibility, and while led by the Department of Transport, it is one which is taken very seriously across Government. We have all been shocked by the loss of life on our roads, and concerned by the worrying increase in road fatalities after many years of progress in making our roads safer.

I continue to engage with colleagues across Government to ensure that every effort is made to increase safety on our roads.

Road traffic laws are enforced by both Roads Policing personnel and as part of the day-to-day duties of uniformed Gardaí nationwide. This includes a programme of high-visibility road safety and enforcement operations carried out in partnership with other state agencies. The Commissioner has also directed that all uniform Garda members are to be deployed on high visibility roads policing operations, of 30 minutes duration, in each tour of duty.

It is important to note that approximately 25% of all roads enforcement is undertaken by regular units and 75% of drug/drink driving checks are carried out by regular units.

Every frontline Garda member now has a mobility device, which is essentially a mobile phone that allows them to access a number of specialised Garda apps at the roadside thereby making much more efficient use of their time. These include the ability to issue a Fixed Charge Notice, to check a vehicle's insurance status, if a vehicle is taxed and whether a driver is disqualified. These tasks can now be done within moments, without the need to return to the station. The Commissioner also stated he aims to have an additional 100 static road safety cameras in place by the end of next year.

I am advised that as of 31 May 2024, there were 620 Roads Policing Gardaí assigned across all Divisions. Funding provided by the Government under Budget 2024 allows for the recruitment of new Gardaí, which will increase the number of frontline Gardaí available to the Garda Commissioner to allocate as he deems appropriate. It is expected that it will soon be possible to allocate more members to the Roads Policing units. The Commissioner has said that 150 Gardaí will be added to Road Policing units in the next two years in order to meet road safety targets.

The information in the attached spreadsheet, which was provided to me by the Garda authorities, sets out the number of Garda members by Division assigned to Roads Policing duty in the years 2014 up to 2023, and at 31 May 2024, the latest date for when figures are available. Please be advised that this information is operational and may be subject to change.

Please be advised that the following Divisions have merged under the new Garda Operating model.

• Louth/Cavan/Monaghan
• Meath/ Westmeath
• Clare/Tipperary
• Mayo/Roscommon/Longford.