Government not planning to recruit more gardaí

Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said yesterday the Government has yet to decide whether or not any more Garda recruits will begin training.

The first class of recruits for five years started this week in the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary.

The Government had previously indicated that at least one more intake would occur within months of the first, but Ms Fitzgerald said yesterday there are no such plans at present.

Senior Garda officers have expressed concern that the strength of the force has gone below 13,000. They also say the fresh intake, the first since the Government’s public sector recruitment moratorium was introduced, will not be enough to replace the estimated 200 retirements this year.

"Garda numbers are at 1,290 at present," Ms Fitzgerald said at the launch of the 2013 annual report of the Parole Board.

“There are 100 new recruits starting this week. [We’re] delighted that we were able to take that decision. We are obviously continuing to examine when the next group of recruits will arrive in Templemore. So, that’s an ongoing discussion.”

The Parole Board’s report revealed when 255 cases it had handled in the three years from 2011 to 2013 were reviewed, that drink and drugs were a feature in 74 per cent of cases. In 121 of the cases, the prisoners cited childhood abuse when engaging with therapeutic services in jail.

Of the 255 cases reviewed, 172 of the prisoners were serving life for murder and were eligible to apply for parole, which is early release, after eight years.

The report also shows that prisoners granted parole had on average spent 18 years in jail. This compared to average sentences before parole of 7½ years in the decade to 1984, 12 years in the 10 years to 1994 and 14 years in the 10 years to 2004.

Time in prison

Asked if the increasing time in prison served by prisoners before being granted parole was a positive development, Ms Fitzgerald said it was contrary to public’s perception.

She suggested it was directly linked to the longer terms prisoners on life sentences are serving before being granted parole, or release.

On whether the trend was out of step with a new approach of offering prisoners increased remission for engaging with rehabilitative and educational services in jail, Ms Fitzgerald said such questions would be addressed in a major new report on Irish penal policy to be published by the Government next week. Under the new community return scheme, time off for good behaviour is a third of a sentence rather than the traditional 25 per cent. Ms Fitzgerald said such programmes would be “an increasing feature of our prison service”.

Chairman of the Parole Board John Costello said 76 former life-sentence prisoners granted parole were now living in the community having never reoffended.

Parole

“It shows that the system of parole and support by the Probation Service . . . prisoners can become well functioning members of society to everyone.”

He also said a debate was needed on whether prisoners who plead guilty should have this taken into consideration years later when applying for parole.

The cases of 68 prisoners were sent to the board for review last year, including 13 murderers, nine sex offenders and seven people convicted of manslaughter. The other cases were for less serious crimes.

There were 95 recommendations made to the Minister for Justice, on whether to release a prisoner on parole or not; with 75 accepted in full, nine accepted in part, and 12 deferred or pending.