Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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194. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the actions he is taking in response to a series of serious assaults and violent incidents reported in the Fairview park area; how his Department is supporting An Garda Síochána, who do excellent work locally, in providing the increased visibility, resources and operational capacity needed to respond to these incidents; if he accepts that, while local community safety partnerships have an important role, issues of violent crime require a direct policing-led response [64280/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Any assaults against members of the public are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I would encourage anyone who has been a victim of or witnessed crime in the area to report it to An Garda Síochána without delay.

I engage regularly with the Garda Commissioner to ensure that he has the resources that he needs to fight crime, and a strengthened, well-resourced Garda organisation is central to this policy. This is reflected in the record allocation of €2.59 billion in the Garda Vote for 2026 which will support the continued recruitment of Gardaí and Garda staff.

The Garda budget will fund the recruitment of up to 1,000 new Gardaí, 200 more Garda staff and a doubling of the Garda Reserve to over 600 next year. An additional 392,000 overtime hours will meet the sustained demand for a visible and responsive policing presence.

Recruitment to An Garda Síochána is gathering momentum and we now have a steady pipeline of new recruits entering Garda College. 194 new Gardaí attested from the Garda College last week and to date in 2025, 39 probationer Gardaí have been assigned to stations in the DMR North Division.

I have been assured by the Garda Commissioner that the high visibility policing plan in place in Central Dublin will continue and the Commissioner has outlined his plan to replicate this approach in other areas of the DMR.

Along with increasing Garda numbers and Garda visibility, the Government is supporting ongoing actions to tackle anti-social behaviour and build safer communities, including:

• Continuing the expansion of youth justice and youth diversion measures.
• Introducing Community Safety Partnerships around the country, to develop Community Safety Plans for every area.
• Piloting Garda body-cams in three locations (Dublin, Waterford, Limerick) with national roll-out to follow. Budget 2026 includes €19 million to begin the national roll-out of Body Worn Cameras at scale.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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195. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of new Garda recruits assigned to the DMR North Division in the years 2021 to 2024, and to date in 2025, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [64285/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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In the interest of transparency, information in relation to the allocation of Probationer Gardaí by Division and Station, including for the DMR North Division, 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 current month and access the file titled “Allocation of Probationer Gardaí by Division and Station 2015 to the most recent date” for a breakdown of total Probationer Gardaí numbers by Garda station going back to 2015.

The Deputy may also wish to note that I understand that a further 11 probationer Gardaí have been assigned to the DMR North Division arising from the most recent attestation from the Garda college on the 14 November.

The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution and stationing of Garda personnel throughout the State under Section 33 of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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196. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of promotions from the rank of inspector to superintendent within An Garda Síochána that has occurred in the years 2024 and to-date in 2025, in tabular form. [64301/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána under Section 33 of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024.

The table below has been provided to me by the Garda authorities and outlines the number of promotions from the rank of Inspector to Superintendent within An Garda Síochána in the years 2024 and to-date in 2025.