Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 7 October 2026
15. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department has assessed the impact of significant population growth in rural areas, including in County Galway, on policing requirements; and whether consideration has been given to the adequacy of current Garda numbers assigned to these areas in light of increased population levels and service demands. [70638/26]
View answerI thank the Ministers for being here. My question is around Garda numbers in east Galway and Galway in general. Over the last three attestation ceremonies of 700 recruits, Galway only secured four gardaí. I refer to the contexts of population growth, geographic spread, and the numbers of gardaí we received.
I thank Deputy Roche for his question. His concern is to try to ensure that he gets as many Garda resources as possible into Galway and particularly Galway East. I can understand that. It is a desire shared by virtually all Members of this House. In order for that to happen, we are dependent on getting numbers into An Garda Síochána. I am pleased to say that at the end of August, there were 14,683 sworn members across the State. I think by the end of this year we are going to get to, or be very close to 15,000 sworn members. That will be a significant achievement for us.
In terms of how the Garda Commissioner determines where the resources should go after passing out ceremonies, he decides that based on a whole variety of factors. He takes into account the national policing plan, local and national crime trends and workloads, policing arrangements and operational strategies. Of course, local population trends are taken into account. In Galway, the high visibility policing strategy has been rolled out. My understanding is that it has been going very well since it was introduced. The enhanced Garda presence in Galway city centre and Salthill will support a proactive and robust policing approach to public order offences, antisocial behaviour, drug dealing, aggressive begging and shoplifting.
The Deputy is concerned about the number of allocations made after passing out ceremonies recently. It is important to point out that there are gardaí arriving in Galway as a result of transfers. I am informed by Garda authorities that 25 gardaí have been transferred to the Galway division since the end of 2025. That is an interesting statistic. It shows that many gardaí want to go back to Galway or just go and live in Galway. When the Commissioner is taking the allocation into account, he is obviously going to have to take into account that a number of transfers have gone back there.
I thank the Minister. We in Galway cannot help that people are attracted to our county. The most local stations to me are Tuam and particularly Bearna Dhearg, which is only two miles down the road from where I live. The support we get from both those Garda stations is compelling. Our local garda is a man of the community and a man of the people. He is always there to provide support. I commend An Garda Síochána for the outstanding support my community gets when the need arises.
Sometimes people are quick to judge and say they are enough gardaí on the streets or that they are not getting the best service. I can attest to the fact that I have never found the gardaí wanting in that regard. I commend them. They deserve every bit of support they get from Ministers and the Commissioner.
It is good to hear that somebody such as the Deputy who is aware of what is happening in local communities is prepared to be here and commend the work of An Garda Síochána. It does not surprise me. That is the response I get from virtually every Member of Dáil Éireann. They are extremely pleased with the service provided on a local basis by An Garda Síochána. The biggest demand I get in the House is to get more gardaí into the constituencies represented by the people here. That is a very positive message. In some parts of the world people do not want police forces in their communities and regard them as an antagonistic law enforcement entity. Fortunately, that is not the case in Ireland.
As of the end of August of this year, there were 641 gardaí assigned to the Galway division. As of the same date, there were 131 Garda staff assigned to the division. There were 25 community gardaí and 40 roads policing gardaí assigned to the Galway division. I am conscious of the desire of the Deputy to get more gardaí into Galway. We want to ensure there are more gardaí there and I will take that into account.
It is fair to say that my ask in the question around resources is a result of communities asking me those very questions. As I said, we all depend on the gardaí at some time or another and we are very quick to ring them when we are in trouble. We contact them and get support around a community or family funeral, traffic management around parades and other community celebrations. There are times when it is a little unfair or a burden on gardaí when they are criticised for doing roads policing. It is a very difficult balance. When they are present in the community, as the Minister referenced, at times there is an almost begrudging community spirit. In the context of community support, most of them lead by example, and long may that continue.
It is a very demanding and challenging job. People want gardaí everywhere. There are now many more units in the force than we had before. Traditionally, we did not have cyber units or the other specialist units we now have in An Garda Síochána and which are absolutely necessary. The most important unit is the garda on the beat or the community garda because people want to see gardaí in their community.
At the end of August, there were 310 gardaí in Galway city, 53 of whom were assigned to Salthill and 58 of whom were assigned to the Deputy's local station in Tuam. There were 75 assigned to Loughrea and 52 assigned to Ballinasloe. I am pleased to hear that gardaí are doing a very positive and good job in Galway. That does not surprise me. They depend on community support because a police force cannot be successful or effective unless it has the support of the community it polices. That is the secret of the success of An Garda Síochána, namely that the community wants to work with the force and see it succeed.
