asked the Minister for Justice if, in view of the continuous demand for additional gardaí he will (1) replace most of the 500 gardai now engaged on clerical duties with civilian employees; and (2) recall most, if not all, the extra gardaí assigned to Border duties.

It has been the policy for a number of years to release gardai from office duties which can be satisfactorily performed by civilian staff and, since 1970, over 200 civilians have been assigned to clerical duties in Garda offices and stations throughout the country. The Committee of Inquiry recently set up under the chairmanship of Professor W. J. L. Ryan will be considering the whole question of the extent to which types of work at present performed by members of the force could appropriately and with advantage be undertaken by civilians, and the way in which changes in this regard should be implemented.

The number of gardai assigned to particular areas is a matter primarily for the Garda authorities and the number is reviewed from time to time to take account of changing circumstances.

Was the Minister reported recently in negotiations with the Garda——

I have difficulty in hearing the Deputy.

We are mutually affected. May I ask the Minister whether the report which appeared in various newspapers, as a result of his meetings in the not very recent dispute with the gardai and the negotiations with the Garda authorities, is correct in stating that all gardai engaged in clerical and similar duties would be replaced by civilians?

I would refer the Deputy to the report issued on my behalf which dealt with the terms of reference of the Garda Siochana Committee of Inquiry. Paragraph (c) of that report states that the committee will be considering reporting and making recommendations to me on the extent to which types of work at present performed by members of the force could appropriately and with advantage be undertaken by civilians and the way in which changes in this regard should be implemented.

Then the report I saw was not an accurate reflection of the situation.

I would not like to vouch for the accuracy of the report to which the Deputy may be referring. I am not familiar with the report.

I only wish that report, which does not seem to have been accurate, was actually accurate. May I ask the Minister is it not patiently obvious, considering the problem of trying to find anything up to 500 additional gardai for normal police duties, that all members of the force now engaged on clerical duties should be replaced by civilians who would be quite capable of doing the work and, secondly, I seem to recollect a report, perhaps also inaccurate, which would seem to indicate that all gardai engaged on mechanical duties should also be replaced by civilians. That, too, would make extra gardai available.

Again, I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the second report to which the Deputy refers because I have not seen it. I am not responsible for it. With regard to the question of civilians replacing gardai on certain duties, that matter is part of the terms of reference of the committee of inquiry which, as the Deputy knows, is now in operation and has been for the last two weeks or so.