RANK and file gardaí said Garda numbers have been “systematically” cut to 13,500 — more than 1,000 less than the strength claimed by the Government.

The Garda Representative Association is to ballot its members for industrial action.

A GARDA association has described as “shambolic” the country’s new out of hours emergency service for children at risk.

GARDAÍ have expressed concern at the sharp rise in the legal ownership of handguns in recent years.

The Garda Representative Association has rejected media suggestions that gardai have done better than others in public sector pay awards.