James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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31. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality for an update on his work to increase the number of civilian staff in An Garda Síochána. [36665/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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One of my top priorities as Minister is to get more Gardaí on our streets through increased recruitment and appropriate civilianisation where possible.

The overall Garda workforce, which includes Gardaí, Garda Staff and Reserves currently stands at over 18,000.

As of the end of May 2025, the latest date for when figures are available, there are 3,507 whole time equivalent Garda Staff within An Garda Síochána, accounting for about 19% of the overall Garda workforce, This represents an increase of over 75% since 2015 when there were approximately 2,000 Garda Staff.

Garda Staff are an integral part of our police service and they are involved in the provision of a wide range of administrative, professional and technical services. As well as providing clerical support and financial management functions in Garda stations and offices across the country, Garda Staff carry out a range of specialised support roles.

In recent years, these additional staff have provided expertise in support of the investigation of crime and freed up 900 Gardaí for deployment to frontline duties. This proportion of Garda Staff to sworn members is still relatively low by international standards and I look forward to further civilianisation in key areas in the coming years.

In January of this year, the nationwide transfer of immigration registration functions from An Garda Síochána to my Department was completed. This completes the full civilianisation of the Garda administrative immigration functions.

Prior to this transfer over 100 Gardaí were assigned to immigration duties. The release of these Gardaí now enables Garda management to focus resources more on enforcement and operational matters such as deportations and investigations.

The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI) also recommended that Garda Staff be recruited directly to An Garda Síochána as public servants, rather than to the Civil Service. A central tenet of the CoFPI report was that An Garda Síochána should be seen and treated as a single organisation with a single workforce who share a common mission. It found that more integrated workforce structures were required to leverage the different skills and perspectives of Garda members and Garda staff and thereby contribute to enhancing the capacity of the organisation to deliver better policing outcomes.

It is for this reason that the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 provides that Garda Staff will in future be recruited and appointed by the Garda Commissioner as public servants. Senior members of Garda Staff will be appointed by the Commissioner with the approval of an Bord an Garda Síochána.