Number of available gardaí down 1,100 in fortnight due to Covid

There are 1,100 fewer gardaí available to work than two weeks ago because of Covid-19, a representative group has said, with the force now providing antigen tests so members can voluntarily assess “their personal health status”.

Garda Representative Association interim general secretary Philip McAnenly said he welcomed the “sudden availability of these antigen tests”.

However, he said, it “feels like we are slamming the door after the horse has already bolted” given so many members were off sick or as close contacts with case numbers soaring in the State.

“There are now over 1,100 less gardaí available for duty than just over two weeks ago and we believe that many of these cases could have been avoided had a proper and appropriate booster vaccination and PCR testing scheme been made available to our members,” he said.

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“Now it seems Garda management have only now been prompted into action by the predicted and recent surge in Covid cases which has seen our available numbers plummet.”

According to the Department of Justice there were 14,539 sworn Garda members last January. Figures previously released by the force show there were about 518 sick days taken by gardaí on an average day in 2020, but Covid-19 absences were considered “special leave” rather than sick leave.

The Garda Press Office said it did not provide “commentary on the individual status” of members, individual garda stations or sections, but that “in line with the trend among the general population the current impact of Covid-19 is more significant at this time”.

“An Garda Síochána has consistently stated that we would provide necessary information on our service capability if/where necessary. An Garda Síochána maintains effective operational resilience.”

It confirmed that the force has started to issue antigen tests to allow staff “to voluntarily risk assess their personal health status to protect themselves, their families and resilience within an Garda Síochána against the impact of the Omicron variant”.

Meanwhile, the Health Service Executive chief clinical officer Dr Colm Henry has said that about one in nine intensive care staff are currently out of work on Covid-19 related leave.

He said the latest available figures showed at least 3,800 HSE staff were out but that the total was expected “to go much higher” as the figure cited dated back to before Christmas.

“Then if you look at our entire compliment of staff that serve in intensive care units, 1,800 in total, and perhaps 200 of those are out on Covid-related leave,” he said on RTÉ Radio One on Sunday.

“We have mandated hospitals to take whatever actions, to redeploy staff, to prioritise urgent time critical services, and that means at this point in time we are seeing the Mater Hospital in severe trouble with one in 10 staff off with Covid-related leave.”