Government failing to address drop in Garda numbers, say Soc Dems

New figures have shown there are nearly 600 fewer frontline gardaí than there were six years ago, with a record 10% of all stations have no dedicated garda assigned to them.

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said the figures “underline the failure of successive governments to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in An Garda Síochána.”

The Dublin Central TD said, “I have been repeatedly raising the issue of Garda numbers and resources with Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan since the formation of this government – he has always reassured me that the situation was stable, but we knew that this was not true.”

“40% of stations now have fewer staff than they did in 2020. The government is failing to bolster our police force, especially in the areas which need it most, with Mountjoy in my own constituency of Dublin Central down 59 staff,” Gannon noted.

Gannon remarked, “the Minister has continuously opted for soundbites and platitudes to draw the focus away from this issue, but the jig is now up on his misdirection.”

“Garda stations are lying empty throughout the country, while many of the others are understaffed and do not have the resources required to adequately police their area; meanwhile, the Minister’s boasts about high-visibility policing are unfounded – Garda presence in Dublin’s inner city is still leaving much to be desired,” he said.

Gannon accused the Minister For Justice of “running his department through press announcements which lack substance.”

“As I previously stated last summer, the govermnent’s pledge to add 5,000 new gardaí over the next five years is little more than a pipe dream – we’re seeing the reality of that now,” Gannon asserted.

“The Garda recruitment and retention crisis continues to spiral out of control, yet the Minister responsible lies asleep at the wheel. We need a complete overhaul of the way this government approaches policing in Ireland.”