HQ Branches

Offices of the Commissioner, Deputy Commissioners and Chief Administrative Officer

Image of the entrance to Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin 8

Office of the Garda Commissioner

The general direction and control of An Garda Síochána is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Government. He is responsible to the Minister for Justice, Equality & Law Reform, who in turn is accountable to the Dáil (the Irish legislature) for the activities of the Service. The Commissioner’s Office is at Garda Headquarters. He is assisted by the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Operations, the Deputy Commissioner in charge of Strategy & Change Management, and the Chief Administrative Officer. The Commissioner has a Personal Assistant (Chief Superintendent) and a Private Secretary (Superintendent), together with an administrative staff.

Office of the Deputy Commissioner Strategy & Change Management

The Deputy Commissioner in charge of Strategy & Change Management is responsible for strategy development and performance improvement subject to the Commissioner’s approval. The main function of this office include overseeing An Garda Síochána's corporate planning process, establishing change, leadership and training programmes and ensuring that strategy implementation is achieved in a coordinated and integrated fashion across the organisation. The Assistant Commissioners in charge of Professional Standards and Strategy & Training, the Head of Legal Affairs and the Head of the Internal Audit Section report to the Deputy Commissioner for Strategy & Change Management.

Office of the Deputy Commissioner Operations

The Deputy Commissioner in charge of Operations is responsible for operational policing. The Assistant Commissioners in charge of Crime & Security, National Support Services, Traffic, and each of the 6 Regional Assistant Commissioners all report to the Deputy Commissioner for Operations.

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer

The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) (This post is currently vacant. Deputy Commissioner Rice, Strategy & Change Management has taken over responsibily in the short term). He has responsibility for the Finance Directorate, Human Resource Management, the Garda Estate, Transport and Information and Communications Technology. The Office of the CAO has a team of 5 people comprising 2 Gardaí and 3 civilian staff. Tasks and projects of the Office of the CAO include:

Overseeing the management of an administrative budget of €1.3 billion
Implementation of a new Human Resources Strategy
Implementation of a new Occupational Health Strategy
Developing Short and Long Term Accommodation Strategy for the Garda Estate
Review of administrative practices and procedures
Development of a Fleet Optimisation Model for over 2,500 vehicles
Rollout of the National Digital Radio System
Development and implementation of a new ICT strategic plan
Oversight of the roll-out of a number of major IT projects
Development of a new Environmental Strategy
Implementation of Garda Diversity Strategy

The Office of the CAO can be contacted at:

Office of the Chief Administrative Officer:
Garda Headquarters
Phoenix Park
Dublin 8

Tel: +353 1 6662082
Fax: +353 1 6662084
E-mail: CAO@garda.ie