Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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450. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí who have retired in the Mayo district in each of the years 2020 to 2024, inclusive. [41354/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I have requested the information sought by the Deputy from the Garda authorities. Regrettably, this was not available in time and I will write to the Deputy once the information is to hand.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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451. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí in the Mayo district who are currently on sick leave. [41355/24]

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 all human resource matters. As Minister, I have no role in these independent functions.

To be of assistance I sought the information requested by the Deputy from An Garda Síochána. I am informed there were 49 Garda members from the Mayo/Roscommon/Longford Division who were recorded as absent due to sick leave on 1 July 2024, the latest date for which figures are available. These figures are operational and may be subject to change.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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452. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí recruited in the Mayo district in each of the years 2020 to 2023 and to date in 2024. [41357/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, a further record-breaking increase in funding for An Garda Síochána was allocated in Budget 2025. The allocation for An Garda Síochána now stands at €2.48 billion, and has increased by 27% since 2020. This funding will support the recruitment of new Garda members, Garda staff and Garda Reserves, and reflects the Government’s commitment to supporting all parts of the organisation.

The Government are taking a number of steps to accelerate recruitment into An Garda Síochána, including almost doubling the Garda training allowance, increasing the age of entry from 35 to 50, increasing the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 62, and launching a new Garda Reserve Competition.

There are currently over 14,000 Garda members across the country compared to 12,816 in 2015.

As you will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of Garda business under Section 26 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), including the recruitment and training of Garda members and staff.

A Garda recruitment competition was launched on 15 January 2024 and closed for applications on 8 February. The response to this year’s Garda recruitment campaign was very strong. I am advised by the Garda authorities that 6,381 people applied.

Since the reopening of the Garda college in September 2014 a total of 4,824 Garda members have attested of which 35 Probationer Gardaí were assigned to Mayo.

The table below, which was provided to me by the Garda authorities, sets out the number of probationer Garda allocated to Mayo in each of the years 2020 up to 2023 and in 2024, up to the 20 September, the date of the latest attestation.

Please be advised that these figures are operational and may be subject to change.

At the end of June 2024, the latest date for which figures are available, there were 581 Garda members assigned to the Mayo/Roscommon/Longford Division. These Garda members are supported by 102 Garda staff.

Also, in the interest of transparency, information in relation to the allocation of Probationer Gardaí by Division and Station is publicly available and can be found at the following link:

www.gov.ie/en/publication/7c2e6-probationer-gardai/