Third of senior Garda roles to be vacant by February

NEARLY one third of Garda senior command positions will be vacant by February, leaving the force in a state of “crisis”.

Senior officers have warned of the risk of serious incidents due to the lack of commanders on both a geographical basis and in specialist units. Garda figures show that by the end of February — when changes in public sector pensions kick in — about one third of senior ranks will be vacant due to retirements. These include:

* Four assistant commissioners (ACs), out of 12 positions.