Garda ‘struggling’ with policing demands operations due to ‘very alarming’ decline in numbers

The continued decline in Garda numbers has been described as “very alarming” by the force’s largest representative body, with the Garda now “struggling” to keep pace with policing demands, including 999 calls.

One experienced Garda member told The Irish Times while many gardaí had complained for years about a shortage of Garda vehicles “now we haven’t got enough [gardaí] to drive the vehicles”.

Other gardaí believed the true level of pressure on resources was hidden because hundreds of gardaí who were out injured or ill, and the 120 Garda members currently suspended from duty, were still being included in the “available strength” figures being compiled by Garda Headquarters for the Policing Authority.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents about 12,000 rank-and-file gardaí in a force of almost 14,200, said the “very alarming” decline in Garda numbers resulted in greater risk to the public, especially “vulnerable citizens”.

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“Many stations and districts are struggling to maintain a basic fire brigade policing service with fewer members carrying an increasing burden which is simply not sustainable,” said GRA president Brendan O’Connor. “It is inevitable that service levels will be compromised and commitments to communities will not be honoured if the downward trend in Garda numbers is not reversed.”

Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) general secretary Antoinette Cunningham said its members were concerned about the “deep disparity between recruitment, retention and retirements in An Garda Síochána”. AGSI believed a long-term recruitment plan was required rather than annual targets.

Garda Headquarters said Garda numbers were at record levels when the pandemic began and recruitment was curtailed as the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary, was forced to close for a period. It added 370 new gardaí were still attested last year while 200 recruits would enter the college every 11 to 12 weeks this year. A new recruitment process would be launched before the end of March.

The Department of Justice said funding was in place for “up to 1,000″ new Garda recruits to be hired this year. It added Garda numbers were still 10 per cent higher now than in 2015, with the number of civilians in the Garda force now 66 per cent higher than seven years ago.

The latest figures reveal there were 14,113 sworn Garda members in the Republic at the end of last month, a decline of almost 650 in less than three years. When career breaks and maternity leave were factored in, the “available strength” of the Garda at the end of November was 13,907. In March, 2020, as the pandemic broke out, there were 14,750 sworn Garda members and the available strength of the force was 14,474.

Some 1,977 Garda members were unavailable for duty in November because of illness, though many of those were absent for very short periods of one or two days. A further 192 were unavailable for work for periods in November having been injured on duty. Those who were ill or injured, and the 120 Garda members suspended after allegations were made against them, were still included in the Garda’s “available strength” numbers.