Dublin South West Sinn Féin TD, Seán Crowe, has described the Minister for Justice’s response to his Parliamentary Question on Garda numbers in the local Drugs Unit as extremely disappointing and unacceptable.

Crowe said that any naïve person looking at the downward spiral of the graph would believe that the drugs problem was receding and not getting worse.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“The response from the Minister for Justice, Francis Fitzgerald, to my Parliamentary Question is extremely disappointing, unacceptable, and is not based on the reality of the actual situation currently impacting on so many families, and the communities they live in.

“The numbers of An Garda Síochána in the local Drugs Unit has been reduced in the last 5 years while the drugs problem and its impact on the lives of residents continues to grow.

“Many communities have to watch helplessly and deal with the reality of open drug dealing going on their doorsteps on a daily basis.

“Young school children are being used as drug runners and the intimidation of families over alleged drug debts has grown beyond the few isolated cases of 5 years ago.

“5 years ago there were 31 members of the local Drugs Unit, but last year it went down to an all-time low of 16 members. The question everyone is asking is why?

“The Minister notes in the parliamentary reply that all Gardaí have a responsibility in the prevention and detection of criminal activity, whether it be in the area of drug offences or otherwise. She also says this work is supplemented by resources from Divisional units including the Divisional Traffic Unit and the Divisional Burglary Unit, but the receding figures speak volumes about her commitment to tackling this huge problem.

“Surely, with the backdrop and long history of a drugs epidemic that has destroyed so many lives, the numbers of Gardaí specifically dealing with drug dealing should have vastly increased not decreased.

“Any cursory look at Tallaght and its hinterland would confirm that the drugs problem has got steadily worse, while at the same time the State’s resources to actually tackle the problem have been shrinking or withdrawn altogether.

“We know that the Tallaght Drugs Task Force has seen its core funding slashed over the same 5 years and the Departments of Health, Education and Skills, and Social Protection, who make up pillars of the Drugs Strategy, no longer attend meetings.

“The call from the same Task Force, that the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) should be more active locally, has been met with a deafening silence.

“Minister Fitzgerald’s recent announcement of a range of additional measures to tackle organised crime including the strengthening of CAB powers, new legislation to target proceeds of crime, and the setting up of a new Special Crime Taskforce that will focus relentlessly on persons involved in gangland activities is to be welcomed.

“Unfortunately many people have heard many of these public commitments before and lost any confidence in the Minister and many of her predecessors.

“People want to see action on the ground in their areas not more empty promises. She could begin to rebuild confidence in this area by strengthening and fully resourcing the depleted Tallaght Drugs Unit.”

ENDS

 

Notes for Editors:

Full Parliamentary Question and reply below

*  To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of members of An Garda Síochána assigned to and active in the Tallaght Drugs Unit in each of the years 2010 to 2015..

– Seán Crowe

 

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 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 number of Gardaí assigned to the Tallaght District on the 31 March 2016, the latest date for which figures are readily available, was 245.  Tallaght District forms part of the wider Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) South Division which has 19 members in its Drugs Unit.  The number of Garda personnel that were assigned to the DMR South Drugs Unit on the 31 December 2010 to 2015 was as set out in the table below.

It is important to note that all Gardaí have a responsibility in the prevention and detection of criminal activity whether it be in the area of drug offences or otherwise.  The Tallaght District is policed by regular uniformed units, community policing units as well as a District Detective Unit.  It is also supplemented by resources from Divisional units including the Divisional Traffic Unit and the Divisional Burglary Unit. Specifically in relation to drugs, I can assure the Deputy that An Garda Síochána continues to pro-actively and resolutely tackle all forms of drug crime in this jurisdiction.  The Garda National Drugs Unit works closely with dedicated Divisional and District Drug Units and other national units, including the Organised Crime Unit, as well as the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) in targeting persons involved in the illicit sale and supply of drugs.

The Deputy will be aware that after discussions with my Government colleagues, on Tuesday 31 May, I announced a range of additional measures to tackle organised crime including the strengthening of CAB powers, new legislation to target proceeds of crime and the setting up of a new Special Crime Taskforce that will focus relentlessly on persons involved in gangland activities.  In addition to these measures I will also discuss transnational dimension of organised crime with international counterparts.

As the Deputy will be aware, when the financial crisis hit, the then Government introduced a moratorium on recruitment and the four year National Recovery Plan, published in 2010, envisaged a steady reduction in Garda numbers.  Thankfully, in a recovering economy, we were able to reopen the Garda College in September 2014 and start recruiting once again.  This Government is committed to ensuring a strong and visible police presence throughout the country in order to maintain and strengthen community engagement, provide reassurance to citizens and deter crime. Key to achieving this goal is the commitment in the Programme for Government, “A Programme for a Partnership Government” to continue the ongoing accelerated Garda recruitment programme with a view to increasing Garda numbers to 15,000.  Since the Garda College reopened in September 2014, a total of 700 Garda trainees have been recruited with a further 450 planned to be recruited during the remainder of this year. So far 395 of the new Garda trainees have attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream uniform duties nationwide.  I am informed by the Garda Commissioner that 30 newly attested Gardaí have been assigned to the DMR South Garda Division.

It is expected that a further 300 trainees will attest by the end of this year which, taking account of projected retirements, will bring Garda numbers to around the 13,000 mark. We must, I believe, endeavour to make more rapid progress than this to reach our target of 15,000 and I will be engaging with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, in relation to increasing the planned annual intake this year and in coming years.

DMR South Drugs Unit

31 Dec 2010	31 Dec 2011	31 Dec 2012	31 Dec 2013	31 Dec 2014	31 Dec 2015	31 March 2016
30	31	30	23	17	16	19

 

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