Garda body says they are not tied up in office roles

GARDAÍ yesterday denied there are hundreds of desk-bound officers who could be used to fight crime.

The Garda Representative Association said there were no opportunities to hire civilian staff to replace office gardaí, despite fears over rising street violence.

“Hundreds of civil servants are working in the gardaí now, and that deal was agreed back in 1999. Any perception that there is an army of gardaí working behind desks is completely wrong,” GRA president John Healy said.