471. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice if she will provide a breakdown of the number of gardaí allocated to Carlow and Kilkenny in each of the past five years; how they have been deployed in each county; and her views on the overall level of crime in each county and in particular drug-related crime. [6525/24]

Helen McEntee, Minister for Justice: As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the administration and management of An Garda Síochána, as well as for decisions on the deployment of personnel among the various Garda Divisions. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.

I am however assured that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review, in the context of crime trends and policing priorities.

The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to fight crime. The 2024 allocation provides a budget of over €2.35 billion to An Garda Síochána – this is a 25% increase since 2020. This unprecedented budget will strengthen the work of An Garda Síochána and the criminal justice sector to prevent and detect crime and protect communities.

There are currently around 14,000 Garda members across the country. This represents an increase of around 9% since 2015. As the Deputy may be aware, 388 new Gardaí attested in 2023 and were allocated to Garda stations nationwide. The Deputy may also be interested to know that 746 trainee Gardaí entered Templemore in 2023, the highest number to enter Templemore since 2018.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that at the end of December 2023, the latest date for when figures are available, there are 312 Garda members assigned to the Kilkenny/Carlow Division. As of the same date there were 7 Garda members assigned to the Drugs unit in the Division which represents an increase of 40% since the end of December 2019.

[click here to read the full Debate]