Garda Commissioner Drew Harris will today move to allay fears that rural communities will lose superintendents under plans for a major overhaul of the organisation.

A radical restructuring of the Garda is to see the number of divisions go from 28 to 19.

This sparked concern among rural TDs that superintendents will be redeployed to new headquarters which could be at the far end of vast new divisions.

Mr Harris will appear before the Oireachtas Justice Committee this morning to update TDs and senators on plans for Garda reform and the new policing model. He will insist the changes to structures will provide “more front-line gardaí, increased Garda visibility, and a wider range of policing services” for the public.

Committee members will be told of a net increase of 800 Garda members under a recruitment programme between now and 2020 and a further 1,000 gardaí being released to front-line duties.

Mr Harris will say chief superintendents and superintendents will be empowered to make decisions on how policing is best delivered within their divisions.

He will also note commentary that Garda members, particularly superintendents, will inevitably be pulled into wherever the divisional headquarters is based, but will say: “That will not be the case.”

While he said there would be some centralisation “largely of administrative resources”, he is resolute that as many superintendents as possible will be in “key locations throughout a division”.

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