December 7, 2016
Deputy John Deasy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the additional resources that have been provided to the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation on foot of concerns raised by the Garda Inspectorate a year ago regarding its workload and an absence of dedicated expertise.
  
REPLY
As the Deputy will appreciate, it is the Garda Commissioner who is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and Units and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter.  

I am assured by the Garda Commissioner that the allocation of Gardaí is continually monitored and reviewed taking into account all relevant factors including crime trends, demographics, and security assessments relating to the area in question so as to ensure optimal use is made of Garda human resources. 

I have been informed by the Garda Commissioner that the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (formerly the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation) is part of Special Crime Operation and has a dedicated expert staff, including professional civilian staff to address white collar, fraud and economic crimes.  

As of 31 October, 2016 the latest date for which figures are available there were 55 members of An Garda Síochána, two professional accountants and 12 civilians attached to the Bureau.  A competition to appoint a further two forensic accountants has recently been completed by the Public Appointments Service and it is expected that they will assigned to the Bureau early in 2017.

In addition, I am informed that the Commissioner has recently held competitions to fill vacancies for members in Garda Special Crime Operations  and the needs of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau will be considered, when assigning successful candidates from these competitions.

April 20, 2016

Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of members of An Garda Síochána stationed in Co. Waterford; the number who retired in each of the past five years; their rank on leaving the force; and the number of officers of each rank of Garda, Detective Garda, Sergeant, Detective Sergeant, Inspector and Superintendent currently deployed in the Waterford division compared to five years ago.

REPLY (Minister Frances Fitzgerald)
As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and Districts and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of these resources.

I have been informed by the Garda Commissioner that the number of members stationed in the Waterford Garda Division on the 29 February 2016, the latest date for which figures are readily available was 280.  This compares with 302 on the 28 February 2011.  The table below sets out the breakdown by rank.  The information supplied by the Garda Commissioner does not distinguish between Sergeant and Detective Sergeant.
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With regard to the number of members and their ranks who have retired from this Division, the information is not at hand in the Department and I have asked the Commissioner to supply this information which will be forwarded to the Deputy on receipt.