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Minister For
Justice, Equality and Law Reform:
Section 15 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 provides for the establishment
of a Garda reserve and the Deputies will recall that the measure won
widespread support in the House during the passage of the Act.
The Act lays special emphasis on training for members of the Garda
reserve. The Act provides that the power to appoint persons to the
reserve may only be exercised if the Commissioner has submitted
proposals to the Minister for Justice for the training of persons to be
appointed and regulations have been made concerning their recruitment,
training and terms and conditions. It also provides that a person may
not be appointed to the reserve unless he or she has completed the
prescribed training. It is also the case that the Garda Commissioner may
determine the range of powers to be exercised and duties performed by
reserve members. A reserve member will be bound by all the same legal,
disciplinary and ethical obligations as a regular member.
In July 2005, the month the Garda Síochána Act was enacted, the Garda
Commissioner wrote to me proposing a Garda reserve with a strength of
4,000 members. By way of response, and in the context of advising the
Garda Commissioner of the Government’s policing priorities for 2006, I
set the objective of recruiting 900 reserve members by September of this
year.
I understand the Commissioner is now finalising his proposals for the
reserve, including specifically the training of members and their powers
and duties, and I am sure that in doing this he will have looked to the
successful experience of volunteer police in the UK and other
jurisdictions. I will give careful consideration to the Commissioner’s
proposals when I receive them, which I expect will be very shortly, and
I will then draw up the necessary regulations for the approval of
Government under the Act. As part of that process I will fully consult
with the Garda representative associations.
The Garda reserve will be a supplementary support and, emphatically, not
a replacement for gardaí. Proof of this is the current increase in the
strength of the force from 12,000 to 14,000 members. This programme is
well under way and will lead to a combined strength, of both attested
gardaí and recruits in training, of 14,000 by the end of this year. The
Garda budget is also at an all time high. This year’s allocation of
€1.29 billion represents an increase of 13% on the allocation for 2005.
It includes provision of over €83.5 million for overtime, an increase of
€23 million on last year’s allocation, which will yield over 2.7 million
hours of Garda overtime for frontline policing throughout the State.
The Garda reserve will be a valuable additional support for the Garda
Síochána. It will enhance its capacity to respond to emerging policing
challenges and will reinforce its links with local communities. At a
time when gardaí increasingly do not live in the areas they police, the
Garda reserve will be a valuable source of local strength and knowledge.
It has the support of the Oireachtas and, I believe, the support of the
public. I look forward to the Garda Commissioner’s proposals on the
recruitment, training, powers and duties of the members of the reserve.
I have undertaken to consult constructively with the Garda
representative associations on the proposals and I will be asking them,
for their part, to undertake to respect the clear will of the Oireachtas
in this matter and engage positively in those consultations.
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