Number of gardaí in Dublin city down 15% since 2009

The number of gardaí working in the Dublin Metropolitan Division has fallen by 15 per cent in the last five years.

Figures provided by Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald in reply to a parliamentary question show there were 1,261 gardaí employed at stations in the city at the end of August, down from 1,486 in 2009.

Fianna Fáil, which was in government when an embargo on recruitment to the force was introduced five years ago, said it had serious concerns "at the continuous drop in Garda numbers" at a time when instances of anti-social behaviour were rising in the city.

"The issue of anti-social behaviour has been a source of great concern for locals, tourists and businesses alike in the capital for the past number of years and has been damaging the city's reputation," the party's justice spokesman Niall Collins said.

“The Government seem to be living in a different world when it comes to tackling crime in Dublin. We have not seen the political will necessary to address the problem of anti-social behaviour on our capital’s streets.”

He said recent crime figures from the Central Statistics Office showed a significant increase in burglaries and theft offences in the Dublin region.

Mr Collins said Donnybrook Garda station was the only station in the division that had not seen the number of gardaí working there fall since 2012.

A total of 119 gardaí are employed at the station now, the same as in 2012 but down (7.8 per cent) from 129 in 2009.

The number of gardaí working out of Kevin Street has fallen by 19 per cent; Store Street saw a drop of 17.8 per cent; Irishtown has lost 18.6 per cent; Kilmainham 14 per cent; and the number working at the Bridewell is down 6.7 per cent.

Some 79 gardaí operated out of Harcourt Terrace Garda station when it closed in 2011 and these members have been reallocated to other stations in the city such as Pearse Street, which saw its numbers rise from 255 to 310 between 2011 and 2012 before falling to 289 this year.

The Fitzgibbon Street and Mountjoy stations, which have been merged due to building works, employed a combined 229 gardaí in 2009 but this had fallen by 15.7 per cent to 193 at the end of August.

A new class of 100 trainees, the first since the embargo came in five years ago, was taken into the Garda training college in Templemore in September. Some 25,000 people applied for the positions.