There is a commitment in the programme for Government to increase civilianisation in An Garda Síochána so that more gardaí can be freed up for front-line policing services. This is to include delegated court attendances and release from desk work. The aim was to free up 1,500 gardaí from desk and other duties by 2021, but we learned from the Policing Authority report that only 14 have been successfully transferred. That is not exactly good progress. The report suggests that it will be 2031 or 2041 before the target will actually be achieved. The chairperson, Ms Josephine Fehily, has been very disappointed with the lack of progress on this specific issue. What does the Government intend to do to implement its commitment in the programme for Government on civilianisation within the force?

I thought I misheard the Deputy for a moment and that he was suggesting that we need to increase civilisation in An Garda Síochána.

The Taoiseach heard correctly.

That is definitely true.

I understand that he means civilianisation, and it is absolutely the Government's commitment to increase Garda personnel to 21,000 by 2021, which will comprise 15,000 gardaí, 2,000 Garda Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. In budget 2018, we have allocated-----

I did not ask about that. I asked about the specific commitment on civilianisation of the Garda. There were supposed to be 1,500 gardaí transferred from desk jobs but only 14 have been successfully transferred.

Civilianisation is done by hiring civilians and by transferring existing gardaí-----

No. Forget about it.

-----to different roles. To answer the Deputy's question, we have money in the budget to hire 500 additional civilians this year, and obviously we would expect the Garda authorities to make more progress in transferring uniformed gardaí out of clerical roles and back to front-line roles.