Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 October 2025
677. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration further to Parliamentary Question No. 887 of 17 September 2025, if he has received the necessary information from Garda authorities in order to have this Parliamentary Question answered. [54584/25]
View answerI refer to Parliamentary Question No. 887 of 17 September 2025 where you sought:
"To ask the Minister for Justice; Home Affairs and Migration the percentage of Gardaí within Dublin north division who have successfully completed the pursuit driving courses in 2023, 2024 and to-date in 2025, in tabular form."
As you will recall, I sought the information from the Garda authorities and undertook to contact the Deputy again once the information was to hand.
The Garda Commissioner is responsible for managing the administration and business of An Garda Síochána including the training of its members and civilian staff and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter.
I am informed by Garda authorities that there is a five-level suite of competency based driving (CBD) courses, with each level specifically catering for the required knowledge base, skill set and operational requirements of Garda members.
CBD Level 1 consists of a one-day assessment programme. Gardaí who successfully complete CBD Level 1 are deemed competent to carry out non-response driving functions and routine driving functions commensurate to the role.
CBD Level 2 is a two-week Competency Based Driving Course aimed at front-line Garda Drivers. This course contains Road Craft techniques and emergency response driving.
CBD Level 3 is an addition to the CBD2 course and is of three weeks duration. This course has a requirement for a higher skill set of driving to facilitate the driving of higher powered vehicles. I am advised that Competency Based Driving Level 3 is the highest level of training given to operational Gardaí.
I understand that following the publication of the Garda Spontaneous Pursuit Policy, a pursuit training course is now in development. Level 2 and Level 3 courses include instructions on response driving. The current Garda policy on Spontaneous Pursuits provides that CBD2 and CBD3 drivers may be authorised by the Serious Incident Dispatcher to initiate a pursuit dependant on the threat and risk assessed at the time.
The more specialised levels CBD4 and CBD5 are only delivered to Gardaí undergoing the selection process to become Garda Driving Instructors.
The frequency of all courses is governed by the operational requirements of An Garda Síochána.
With respect to the specific information requested, the table below has been provided to me by the Garda authorities and outlines the number of Gardaí based in the DMR North Division who have successfully completed CBD 2 and CBD 3 driver training.
|
Course |
Number Qualified |
|
CBD 2 |
179 |
|
CBD 3 |
8 |
