‘We’ve become like St Vincent de Paul’

The Garda Benevolent Trust Fund, originally set up to deal with cases of severe illness, is now having to help frontline members of the force pay ESB and gas bills.

Garda Pat O’Sullivan, chairman of the fund, said in the past two years there had been a notable increase in cases where the trust was having to bail out gardaí who had been unable to meet household expenses.

He said the trust was now helping nearly 200 gardaí a year — double the average number they had helped annually since the trust was established in 1972.