Commuter counties have least gardaí

THE booming “commuter counties” outside Dublin have the lowest number of gardaí per head in the country, according to official figures.

Newly-compiled data shows some of these counties also have the lowest detection rates by gardaí for serious crimes in the state.

Garda representatives said the deployment of gardaí had not kept pace with the population explosion in the ring of counties surrounding Dublin.

According to the figures:

* Carlow/Kildare have the lowest garda presence with one garda per 558 people

* Louth/Meath comes next with one garda for every 508 people

* Wexford/Wiclow is third worst off, with one garda for every 490 people

The garda numbers were obtained by the Irish Farmers’ Journal through the Freedom on Information Act.

Garda Representative Association (GRA) president John Egan said he was very concerned at the garda presence in the counties around Dublin and said it could lead to serious problems if not tackled.

“If this is not addressed, it will breed greater difficulties down the line, because there is an obvious lack of contact between the gardaí and the people of these areas, through no fault of the gardaí.”

Derek Nally of the Federation for Victim Assistance, himself a former garda, said: “What has happened with Carlow/Kildare, Louth/Meath and Wicklow/Wexford, to a lesser extent, is that there has been such an influx of people into them over the last few years and that has driven the average number of gardaí way down.”

The figures show garda numbers are highest in Dublin North Central, which has 113 people per garda, followed by Dublin South Central, with 143.

The counties with the next highest garda presence are along the border: Sligo/Leitrim (271); Cavan/Monaghan (305); and Donegal (312).

All three divisions, particularly the latter two, have fewer serious crimes than the commuter counties.

The border counties also have more gardaí per head of population than Cork City, Dublin West and Limerick.

This is despite Limerick having the third highest number of serious crimes per 1,000 people at 31.9. Dublin West has the fourth highest at 29.5, while Cork City has the sixth highest at 27.8.

The divisions with the highest number of serious crimes are Dublin North Central (114.6) and Dublin South Central (93.9).

Gardaí representatives say the lack of gardaí in the commuter counties is affecting their ability to solve crime. Louth/Meath has the lowest detection rates for serious crimes (24%), while Carlow/Kildare has the fifth lowest (30%). However, Cork West, which has the fifth lowest number of gardaí, boasts the highest detection rate (51%).

Data on garda overtime shows the six Dublin garda divisions have the highest overtime rates in the force.

After Dublin, Donegal had the highest overtime bill.

The lowest overtime spend was in Cork West and Cork City. Carlow/Kildare had the fourth lowest overtime bill.