An Garda Síochána
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-16
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I thank Deputy O'Reilly for putting down this important Topical Issue. If I am available for Topical Issues in the justice, home affairs and migration area, I will do them. I am happy to be here to respond to the Deputy's query.
It is repeatedly the case - and it is very fair - that Deputies want more gardaí in their communities and constituencies. That is a good sign. It shows the constituencies and people of Ireland have faith in and are supportive of An Garda Síochána. That is not universal throughout the world. In some places there can be a negative relationship between the police forces and the communities they police, but it is not so in Ireland.
Dublin Fingal West is covered by the Dublin metropolitan region north division. It also covers Dublin Fingal East and parts of Dublin Bay North. At the end of February, the latest date for which published figures are available, there were 764 Garda members of all ranks assigned to the division, supported by 70 Garda staff and 23 Garda reservists.
The allocation of gardaí represents an increase of 13% since the end of 2016, when there were 676 in the division. The Garda staff number has increased by almost 63% in the same period, from 43 assigned in 2016, which in turn has freed up more gardaí to undertake front-line policing duties.
The request I get most of the time is for more gardaí in communities. As people will be aware, I have a policy to have high-visibility policing in our cities and towns and throughout the rest of the country. We have already been able to see that in Dublin, Cork and Limerick there has been a very noticeable increase in high-visibility policing. That is as a result of a policy of the Government that is being implemented by the Commissioner.
It is extremely important that communities have visible policing. The presence of gardaí is very much dependent on there being a pipeline of reserves and recruits and resources available to the Commissioner. Last year, 619 gardaí attested from the Garda College to take up positions across the country, beginning a career of service to their communities and the people of Ireland. Another 167 new gardaí attested in February this year, bringing the number to 786. I look forward to the attestation of new gardaí in two weeks' time, on 1 May next. Seven probationer gardaí were assigned to Deputy O'Reilly's division in February and 39 probationers were assigned in 2025.
Overall, since the reopening of the Garda College in 2015, 496 probationers have been assigned to Dublin metropolitan region north, which is almost 9% of all probationers attested since 2015. Just under 800 trainees entered the Garda College in 2025, which is the highest number since 2018. Recruitment is extremely important to ensure we get more gardaí into Deputy O'Reilly's constituency, Dublin Fingal West, and indeed throughout the country. We are seeing success in this regard at present.
Deputy O'Reilly also raised the issue of Rush Garda station and how she would like to see it reopened. I cannot give her an update in respect of that at present. I am here to talk about the numbers but I will certainly engage with her in respect of those issues.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-16