As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of personnel and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution under review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities to ensure optimum use is made of the resources.
I am informed by the Garda Commissioner that the Garda National Operational Support Unit is comprised of the following Specialist Support Units:
- Air Support Unit;
- Dog Unit;
- Mounted Unit; and
- Water Unit.
These are national that units support the work of all the Garda Divisions and data is therefore only available at national level.
For the Deputy's information, the following table, as supplied by the Commissioner, sets out the latest figures as requested.
Garda National Operational Support Services 2009-2018*
YEAR
|
GD
|
SG
|
IN
|
SU
|
DC
|
TOTAL
|
2009
|
57
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
66
|
2010
|
55
|
6
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
63
|
2011
|
53
|
10
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
64
|
2012
|
53
|
8
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
63
|
2013
|
53
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
62
|
2014
|
49
|
6
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
57
|
2015
|
47
|
6
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
56
|
2016
|
48
|
8
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
57
|
2017
|
62
|
10
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
76
|
2018*
|
62
|
10
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
74
|
*Up to 31 May 2018