Garda numbers declined last year despite a major recruitment programme as the pace of retirements and resignations outstripped the number of new members graduating from the Garda College.
The net fall in the overall strength of the force was 135; down from 14,133 members at the start of 2023 to 13,998 by year end. A further 17 members of the force resigned or retired in January. As those numbers fell, there was a steeper decline in the strength of the Garda’s Roads Policing Units, even though road deaths spiked to a near 10-year high.
Roads policing lost about 10 per cent of its personnel, down to 632 members nationally, with numbers falling in every county except Mayo.
Susan Gray of the Parc road safety group said it was “beyond heartbreaking” to see road policing declining in a year when 188 people died on the roads, with that increase in road deaths having continued this year.
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“In the absence of high visibility, high volume roads policing, drivers will continue to take chances, often with devastating results,” she said, adding the need to bolster roads policing was now “urgent” or this year’s fatalities would be “even worse”.
In his final report to the Policing Authority for 2023, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said some 746 new Garda recruits had commenced training at the college in Templemore, Co Tipperary, during last year.
Some 388 trainees passed out, meaning they became fully-qualified new gardaí during the year. Those gains were offset by 169 resignations – up by more than 50 per cent to a new record high – and 319 retirements.
Mr Harris told the Policing Authority he was optimistic the new Garda recruitment campaign, which has just opened, would result in numbers increasing in 2024.
“It is our hope that with the increase in the age limit and the trainee allowance, this campaign can attract suitable candidates from diverse backgrounds, further enriching the organisation,” he said.
The upper age limit for applying has been increased from 35 to 50 years. Late last year, the weekly training allowance payable to Garda recruits was increased by 66 per cent to €305 in a bid to encourage more candidates apply for jobs on the force.
While senior Garda management and the Government are waiting for the recruitment process to deliver net gains in numbers, more gardaí due to retire are being granted extensions of service.
The strength of the Garda was at an all-time high of 14,750 in spring 2020
Some 62 extensions of service in the Garda were granted last year, compared to 54 in the previous two years combined. At the end of 2023, some 23 Garda members due to retire this year had been granted extensions, with a much larger number expected to follow in the coming months.
The Government plans to increase the Garda force to 15,000 members for the first time “and to keep growing beyond that”, the Department of Justice has said.
The strength of the Garda was at an all-time high of 14,750 in spring 2020. However, when the Garda College was forced to close due to the pandemic, recruitment was halted and numbers gradually declined, below 14,000.
Both the Garda Representative Association, which represents almost 11,000 rank and file gardaí, and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, have said conditions in the Garda need to be made more attractive to boost recruitment and retention.
Both have identified reduced pensions for Garda members who joined the force after 2013 as an area that needs to be improved, while they also want better training and equipment for frontline members.
However, Mr Harris has said a career in policing was challenging and would not suit everyone. He said the theme of the current recruitment campaign – “a job worth doing” – was intended to attract candidates who wanted to make a difference through policing.
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Mr Harris has also pointed out the numbers resigning from the Garda, though growing, are very small and are to be expected in a very competitive jobs market. He told The Irish Times recently some 14 per cent of Garda members due to retire on age grounds had applied for extensions, meaning more gardaí want to work for longer than to resign younger.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she would “encourage anyone who believes they can make a positive contribution as a Garda to consider putting their name forward”.
“As a government we allocated the highest-ever budget of €2.3 billion to An Garda Síochána for 2024. That included funding for between 800 and 1,000 new gardaí, and I hope, and indeed expect, that there will be a strong response to this campaign,” she added.
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