Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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657. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the Garda numbers for each year from 2014 to date, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7592/25]

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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661. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality for a report on the number of Gardaí assigned to each Garda station in the Dublin Metropolitan Region, each year from 2014 to date in 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7596/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 657 and 661 together.

My first priority as Minister for Justice is to get more Gardai on our streets through increased recruitment and appropriate civilianisation where possible. The Programme for Government commits to recruiting at least 5,000 Gardai in the coming five years. A new recruitment process commenced this month which will see a new intake of Garda recruits starting in the Garda Training College in Templemore in the coming months.

The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to fight crime and a strengthened, well-resourced Garda organisation is central to this policy. The Garda Vote in Budget 2025 saw unprecedented funding of over €2.48 billion for this year, a 27% increase since 2020 which is supporting the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff.

While the Garda Commissioner is operationally responsible for the allocation of Garda resources, I am engaging regularly with him to ensure our Gardaí have the resources they need. I am informed that when allocating and transferring Garda members to and from any Division, consideration is given to commitments and undertakings outlined in the Annual Policing Plan.

I understand that the requirements of all Garda Divisions nationwide are also taken into account, which include:

• Local and national crime trends and workloads;
• Policing arrangements and operational strategies;
• Minimum establishment statistics;
• Local population and trends, geographical area and size;
• Transfer applications, including welfare, personnel issues and concerns.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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658. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Gardaí to be recruited over the lifetime of this Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7593/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities, and strengthening An Garda Síochána is at the core of that. We will continue to provide An Garda Síochána with the resources it needs to ensure communities around Ireland are safe and feel safe, including investment in recruitment, equipment, technology and in buildings. This is reflected in the unprecedented allocation of over €2.48 billion to An Garda Síochána in Budget 2025, a 27% increase since 2020.

The overall Garda workforce, which includes Gardaí, civilian staff and Reserves is higher than it has ever been at 18,000.

My first priority as Minister for Justice is to get more Gardaí on our streets through increased recruitment and appropriate civilianisation where possible. The Programme for Government commits to recruiting at least 5,000 Gardaí in the coming five years.

A Garda Trainee Recruitment campaign opened on 6 February 2025 and will remain open for applications until 27 February. The response to last year’s Garda recruitment campaign was very strong. These competitions are allowing for the sustained recruitment of new Garda recruits through to next year and beyond.

A Recruitment and Training Capacity Group has been established, chaired by a Deputy Secretary General in my Department, to support the achievement of increased recruitment and ensure that these recruitment campaigns are impactful. The Group will keep me informed on actions being taken to maximise future intakes and to ensure recruitment can be as effective as possible. The Group will also provide a final report to me by the summer which I expect will include further measures to support recruitment and retention.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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659. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of community Gardaí in each region, each year from 2014 to date in 2025, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7594/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Community policing is at the heart of An Garda Síochána and all Gardaí have a role to play in community policing in the course of carrying out their duties.

A member of An Garda Síochána is deemed to be a ‘Community Garda’ where that person is allocated to a Community Policing Team (CPT), and is responsible and accountable for applying a problem–solving approach to appropriate crime and policing quality-of-life issues in a specified geographic area through community partnership and engagement. Examples of this engagement are working with Neighbourhood Watch, Community Alert, or local business fora.

Like most Garda members, those assigned to CPTs have dual functions. In addition to their strategic roles in these teams, part of which requires them to regularly update their Community Engagement Superintendent on the policing needs of their community, they are also frontline members. It is also important to note that CPTs draw on all frontline Gardaí to carry out community policing.

The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Units and as Minister I have no direct role in the matter.

In the interest of transparency, information in relation to the allocation of Community Gardaí by Division is publicly available and can be found at the link below. I can also advise the Deputy that I have received the most recent figures for December 2024 from An Garda Síochána which have been published on the website. www.gov.ie/en/publication/bd777-an-garda-siochana-your-police-service-some-facts-and-figures

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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660. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda stations, each year from 2014 to date in 2025, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7595/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to fight crime and a strengthened, well-resourced Garda organisation is central to this policy. An Garda Síochána's budget allocation is over €2.48 billion for this year, a 27% increase since 2020 which is supporting the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff.

The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of Garda business under Section 26 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), which includes the management of the Garda Estate. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.

I am informed that currently, An Garda Síochána has over 570 Garda stations throughout the country. By international standards, this is high. For example, in Scotland, which has a comparable population size and a highly dispersed population, there are approximately 250 police stations.

There have been no Garda station closures in the last number of years. The Commissioner has repeatedly said there is no intention to close any stations.

An Garda Síochána also do not police on a station basis, but rather on a Divisional basis, and see stations as locations within communities for people to attend, and for resources to be accommodated. Policing for an area will be delivered using all resources in a District/ Community Engagement Area and supported by Divisional resources and units.

The table below, which was provided to me by the Garda authorities, sets out the number of Garda stations by county at the end of 2014 up to the of end 2024, and to date in 2025. This information is operational and may be subject to change.

In the interest of transparency, information in relation to the opening hours of individual Garda Stations is publicly available and can be found at the following link. www.garda.ie/en/contact-us/station-directory/

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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662. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of minors arrested for each year from 2014 to date in 2025, by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7597/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I have requested the information sought by the Deputy from the Garda authorities, however, this was not available in time. I will write to the Deputy again once the information is to hand.