Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I convey the apologies of the Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, who regrets she cannot be here for this matter due to another commitment.

As the Deputy will be aware, by law, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of Garda members and resources between the various Garda stations and divisions. The Commissioner is also responsible for operational policing decisions, including setting the opening hours of Garda stations. The Minister has no role in these decisions and she cannot direct the Commissioner or An Garda Síochána to change the opening hours of any specific Garda station. I assure the Deputy that the Garda Commissioner and his management team keep the distribution of Garda members and resources under constant review. This is done in light of operational needs and in close consultation with local Garda management in each division.

I can further assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities, and strengthening An Garda Síochána is at the core of that. Budget 2024 provided the highest ever allocation to An Garda Síochána, over €2.35 billion, which is a 25% increase since 2020. This funding allows for the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff, which will in turn allow the Garda Commissioner to ensure that an effective policing service can be delivered.

The response to the latest Garda recruitment campaign has been very strong, with over 6,300 applying to become gardaí, a significant increase on the 5,000 people who applied last year. To assist with recruitment, the Government increased the training allowance and increased the age of entry from 35 to 50 years. The Minister also recently announced a significant increase in the training allowance paid to trainees, to €354 per week or almost double what it was just a year ago.

The Garda Reserve is also a big part of the Government’s plan to grow An Garda Síochána. I welcome that over 1,800 people have applied to become reserve members in a recent competition.

The Government is determined that An Garda Síochána will grow to 15,000 members and beyond, and it is taking action to achieve that. We are seeing growing momentum in recruitment and more and more gardaí are coming through the Garda College and onto our streets. The Minister was delighted last week to witness 108 new Garda members attesting at the third graduation ceremony of the year, while 165 members were attested in March and a further 157 attested in June.

A total of 135 new recruits entered the college this week for their first phase of training and we all wish them well.

I can inform the Deputy that there are, as of June 2024, 599 gardaí assigned to the Galway division, which is an increase of almost 7% since 2015. As of the same date, 33 probationer gardaí have been assigned to stations within the Galway division since 2020. As of June 2024, there are 581 gardaí assigned to the Mayo-Roscommon-Longford division. As this is a newly formed division, a historical comparison is unavailable. Since 2020, 44 probationer gardaí have been assigned to stations within this division. I assure the Deputy that the policies being taken by this Government will ensure that we can grow the number of gardaí to 15,000, which will benefit all parts of the country.

See this speech in context