Question
239. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of members of An Garda Síochána stationed in County Waterford; the number who retired in each of the past five years; their rank on leaving the force; and the number of officers of each rank of Garda, Detective Garda, Sergeant, Detective Sergeant, Inspector and Superintendent currently deployed in the Waterford division compared to five years ago. [7672/16]
Answer
Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Frances Fitzgerald): As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and Districts and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure the optimum use is made of these resources.
I have been informed by the Garda Commissioner that the number of members stationed in the Waterford Garda Division on the 29 February 2016, the latest date for which figures are readily available, was 280. This compares with 302 on 28 February 2011. The following table sets out the breakdown by rank. The information supplied by the Garda Commissioner does not distinguish between Sergeant and Detective Sergeant.
Waterford Garda Division
| Date | Garda | Sgt. | Insp. | Supt. | C/Supt. | Total |
| 28 Feb 2011 | 249 | 43 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 302 |
| 29 Feb 2016 | 231 | 39 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 280 |
With regard to the number of members and their ranks who have retired from this Division, the information is not at hand in the Department and I have asked the Commissioner to supply this information which will be forwarded to the Deputy on receipt.