GRA calls for end to bureaucracy to tackle crime against tourists

The president of the Garda Representative Association has called for a return to “basic policing” and cuts to the high level of bureaucracy within the force.

Brendan O’Connor was responding to figures from the Irish Tourist Assistance Service which indicated there had been an increase in the number of tourists requiring help dealing with crime.

This year alone, the service has helped 782 people, compared with a figure of 721 people in the same period in 2019, before the pandemic.

[ Two arrested over alleged attack on UK tourists in Temple Bar ]

Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Mr O’Connor said the problem was connected to the numbers of gardaí “available and present” on the street. The increase in people seeking assistance did not come as a surprise to him.

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The level of resignations from the force was at “unprecedented levels” especially in urban centres like Dublin, he said.

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Members of the force were frustrated that they were being “kept off the streets”.

They wanted to be out in the community, but there were “layers and layers of bureaucracy”, he said.

[ Calls for Government to address social issues behind Dublin street crime ]

When asked what was keeping gardaí off the streets, Mr O’Connor said the first issue was there were not enough gardaí, and that many had been deployed away from the frontline. There was also the issue of the level of administration required.

“Cut down the levels of bureaucracy and change the management culture,” he urged.

Mr O’Connor pointed out that within the force there were two computer systems and that neither system speaks to the other. “So it’s just constant form ticking and posting on computers.”

There was too much emphasis on recording data and “being slave to the Pulse machine.”

What was needed was “good old fashioned policing” with support staff to deal with administration leaving the gardaí to “get on with policing and not administration.”