Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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769. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if a new recruitment campaign for persons to apply to join An Garda Síochána will be launched before the end of this year. [44840/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of Garda business, including the recruitment and training of Garda members and staff, under Section 26 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended). As Minister I have no role in the Garda recruitment process and decisions related to the timing of Garda recruitment campaigns fall under the Commissioner's remit.

The Commissioner has indicated that annual recruitment campaigns for Garda members will be held and the next campaign is due to be launched in Q1, 2025.

To assist with recruitment, I have taken a number of actions with colleagues in Government over the past number of months including an increase to the training allowance for Garda recruits to €354. This represents an increase of over 92% in the last 12 months. I have also increased the age of entry from 35 to 50.

The most recent Garda recruitment campaign, which ran during January and February this year, received a very strong response with over 6,300 people applying to become a Garda. This is a significant increase on the 5,000 people who applied last year. It is good to see that so many people want to join An Garda Síochána with a strong response from people aged between 35 and 50. Over a third of the applications were in that age group.

An Garda Síochána continues to work on the mitigation of various resourcing challenges and I have established a Garda Recruitment Training Capacity Group to consider further measures to assist in reaching our current target of 15,000 sworn members.

I can also assure the Deputy that I am committed to building stronger, safer communities – and strengthening An Garda Síochána is at the core of that. The Government is determined that An Garda Síochána grows to 15,000 members and beyond. We are also committed to increasing the number of Garda staff to 4,000 and the Garda Reserve to 1,000 by the end of 2026 and to 2,000 thereafter.

I have provided record levels of funding to the Garda Vote, including €2.48 billion under Budget 2025 which is an increase of over half a billion euro compared to 2020. This funding is supporting ongoing recruitment of Garda members and staff.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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770. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of van/personnel carrier courses that were held for Gardaí within the Kildare division in 2022, 2023 and to-date in 2024; and the number of Gardaí that participated in each of those courses, in tabular form. [44841/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, in accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for managing and controlling generally the administration and business of An Garda Síochána, including the training of its members and civilian staff. As Minister, I have no role in the matter.

I have been informed by the Garda authorities that since 2022, 14 Garda members in the Kildare Division have completed van training courses. I am further advised that fewer than 10 Garda members have completed Personnel Carrier courses. As the Deputy may be aware, further data is not released by An Garda Síochána for counts of fewer than 10 for data protection and security reasons.

I am further informed that the Kildare Division was amalgamated with and then subsequently separated from the Laois / Offaly Division during the timeframe referred to by the Deputy. I am advised that the figures are based on members located within the Kildare Division as it exists in its current iteration and do not reflect any subsequent transfers, retirements or other.

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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771. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount still due to An Garda Síochána as of 29 October 2024 in respect of non-public duty events that occurred in 2023 and where policed by An Garda Síochána. [44842/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, under Section 30 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner may provide and charge for police services, including for events on private property or in areas open to the public.

Examples of the types of events for which police services may be provided under this section include:

(a) sports fixtures;

(b) concerts;

(c) festivals and exhibitions;

(d) meetings and conferences;

(e) the making of films, videos, television programmes and advertisements;

(f) appearances by individuals or groups of individuals likely to attract large numbers of people.

To be of assistance I sought the information requested by the Deputy from An Garda Síochána and have been advised that the current amount still due to An Garda Síochána as of 29 October 2024 in respect of non-public duty events that occurred in 2023 is €506,729.

I am also advised that invoices and reminders are issued on a regular basis for all outstanding sums, however, this is a matter for the Commissioner who is responsible for the management and administration of Garda business under Section 26 of the 2005 Act.