212 Mr. O'Malley asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason the number of gardaí in the Limerick division has decreased by 100 between 1985 and 2001; the further reason the biggest decrease in any division in the country was in the Limerick division; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there are very serious crime problems in Limerick; and if he will make a statement explaining the position and setting out the increase in Garda manpower which he proposes to allocate to the Limerick division. [10980/01]

I am informed by the Garda authorities, who are responsible for the detailed allocation of personnel and resources to individual areas, that while manpower strength at Limerick is lower today than in 1985 there has been a gradual increase since 1998.

The manpower strength of the Limerick division as at 1 January for the years 1998 to 2001, inclusive, is as follows: