Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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24. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the average response times to 999 calls; the number of 999 calls which have gone unanswered to date in 2025; the steps his Department is taking to ensure that every 999 call is responded to in a timely manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53534/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Garda Commissioner is by law responsible for all operational policing matters, including response by An Garda Síochána to emergency calls. As Minister, I have no direct role in these matters.

I am advised that GardaSAFE, a new computer aided dispatch system, was rolled out incrementally across the organisation in 2023. The last region, the Dublin Metropolitan Region, went live on GardaSAFE in November 2023.

I understand that while there are some reports available, these are focused on live operational aspects for the Control Rooms to monitor call volumes, etc.

As with any new system, over time and as the amount of data available from GardaSAFE increases, additional reports will be developed .

I am informed that the Garda Regional Control Centres answer every 999/112 call that Emergency Call Answering Service (ECAS) needs to connect. If the caller hangs up before the call is answered, the ECAS operator will stay on the call and connect the call giving all relevant information. In the rare event that a technical issue arises in one of the Regional Control Rooms, ECAS will stay on the call and route the call to a Garda call taker at an alternative location.

Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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25. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to carry out a full review of the duties (details supplied) of members of An Garda Síochána with a view to maximising their time on high visibility policing. [54120/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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A strong and visible Garda presence in our communities is vital to ensure that people in their communities are safe and feel safe.

In May, I secured Cabinet approval for the drafting of the General Scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025. Several provisions in the Bill have significant potential to free up Garda time for high-visibility front-line policing.

These include measures to enable, where so directed by the courts, the remote hearing of criminal proceedings and international co-operation proceedings such as European Arrest Warrant cases.

The Scheme also provides an enabling basis for the electronic transmission of documents, such as charge sheets and bench warrants, to and from the courts in such proceedings. These measures could save on substantial amounts of Garda time travelling to and from the courts, as well as Garda time spent in the court itself.

The Bill is prioritised for publication under the Government’s autumn legislative programme, and the General Scheme was before the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration for pre-legislative scrutiny on 30 September.

I look forward to receiving the Committee’s report and I hope to bring the finalised Bill to Government as soon as possible for approval to publish.

In addition, completing the implementation of the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI) is a key priority. Recommendation 20 of that Report relates to the release of Garda members from non-core duties to front line duties. My Department is working in conjunction with An Garda Síochána and other Departments to progress this work.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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26. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Gardaí serving in County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52991/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Getting more Gardaí into all our communities to prevent crime is my first priority as Minister for Justice. This 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 2026 includes unprecedented funding of €2.59 billion which will support the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff.

At the end of August 2025, the total Garda personnel strength stood at over 18,000, including 14,369 Garda members, 3,494 Garda staff, and 296 Garda Reserves. I will continue to support An Garda Síochána to increase this number further so that we can see more Gardaí assigned all across the country. This includes 552 Gardaí assigned to the Meath/Westmeath Garda Division.

In the interest of transparency, information in relation to the allocation of Gardaí by Division, Station and rank, including for County Meath, is publicly available and can be found at the following link:

www.garda.ie/en/about-us/our-departments/human-resources-and-people-development/garda-hr-directorate/garda-strength-breakdown-2025/

The Deputy should select the relevant month and access the file titled “Garda Members by Division District Station 2009 to 31 August 2025” for a breakdown of total Gardaí numbers by Garda station going back to 2009.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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27. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Gardaí assigned in each district of Cork north central constituency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53636/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I am 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 2026 includes unprecedented funding of over €2.59 billion which will support the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff.

An Garda Síochána is not aligned operationally to Dáil Constituency boundaries and, as a result, figures by constituency are not available.

As of 31 August 2025, the most recent figures available, there are 663 Garda members in the Cork City Division and 617 Garda members in the Cork County Division.

In the interest of transparency, An Garda Síochána publish information in relation to the number of active members by Division and Station which is publicly available and can be found at the following link:

www.garda.ie/garda/en/about-us/our-departments/human-resources-and-people-development/garda-hr-directorate/garda-strength-breakdown-2025/garda-strength-breakdown-2025.html

The Deputy should select August 2025 and then select the file titled “Garda Members by Division District Station 2009 to 31st August 2025” for a breakdown of active members of An Garda Síochána in Cork.

It should be noted that, with the completion of the roll-out of the Garda Operating Model to all Garda Divisions, stations are now aligned to Community Engagement Functional Areas. The term 'district' is no longer in operational use.