Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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178. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to support the Garda to use artificial intelligence in criminal investigations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24738/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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An Garda Síochána needs modern tools and equipment to protect people from harm and save lives.

The Programme for Government includes a commitment to allow for the use of biometric technologies, which are powered by artificial intelligence, in certain, very controlled circumstances as a tool to process evidence in serious cases.

Work is well advanced on the drafting of a Bill to amend the Recording Devices Act to provide for retrospective use of biometric technologies, including facial recognition Technology (FRT). The General Scheme of the Recording Devices (Amendment) Bill, published in 2023, provides for the ethical use of FRT in certain circumstances.

The draft Bill will provide for the sorting and filtering of CCTV or other footage and images through the use of biometrics by AGS. A typical use case would be to find relevant frames of a person suspected of a serious crime in large volumes of video footage.

The Bill will provide for use of FRT, but that use will be subject to regular review and the results will require further examination by a specially trained member of Garda personnel. Garda use of this technology will also be subject to codes of practice which will set out the very high standards of data protection and human rights control required.

This underscores our commitment to ensuring that use in this jurisdiction will mirror best practice from the wide range of EU Member States which are already utilising this technology. The Bill will be consistent with EU law in this area, in particular, the regulation laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act)

This Bill will not provide for the use of live FRT. However, the Programme for Government commits to introduce live FRT in cases of terrorism, national security, and missing persons, with strict safeguards. This will be considered for inclusion in a subsequent Bill.

Regarding other uses of AI by An Garda Síochána, I am informed by Garda Authorities that they do not currently have a specific policy on the use of artificial intelligence. However, An Garda Síochána has a number of existing related policies and procedures that govern the way in which new technologies are used within the organisation. This includes HQ Directive 56/2019 which introduced the current ICT Information Security Policy and Acceptable Use Procedure. The procedure outlines that the use of unlicensed or unapproved software products that are not appropriately licensed for use by An Garda Síochána is strictly prohibited.

Finally, the “Interim Guidelines for Use of AI in the Public Service” issued by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery & Reform in February is applicable to the public service as a whole as is the useful guidance issued in June 2023 by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in relation to the cyber security aspects for consideration with respect to the use of Generative AI.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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179. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of gardaí in the Meath division on 30 April 2025; the efforts he is making to increase the number of gardaí in the county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23597/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The total Garda workforce is currently at its highest ever level, now over 18,200 people, comprising 14,257 members, 3,670 Staff and 316 Reserves, with a government commitment to fund the recruitment of at least 5,000 new Gardaí over the next five years.

By law, the distribution of Garda resources is a matter for the Commissioner. However, I am assured that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review and I engage regularly with him to ensure our Gardaí have the resources they need.

When allocating and transferring Garda members to and from any Division, consideration is given to commitments and undertakings outlined in the Annual Policing Plan, population stats, crime trends and ongoing Garda operations.

It is also worth noting that An Garda Síochána operate a divisional model and do not police on a station-by-station basis. The opening hours of Garda stations is not equivalent to the availability of Gardaí patrolling in the community. Outside of these hours, members of An Garda Síochána continue to operate from these Garda Stations, are on patrol in their local communities, are involved in community engagement and investigations and available to respond to assist the public.I am informed that as of February 28 2025 , there were 547 Gardaí assigned to the Meath/Westmeath Garda Division. Of this figure, 313 were assigned to the Garda districts of Ashbourne, Kells, Navan and Trim.