One in 5 gardaí injured in line of duty

One in five gardaí has been injured in the line of duty over the last five years.

Department of Justice figures show 2,218 members of the force have suffered injuries in their work between January 2011 and October 2015.

More than 580 officers were injured last year alone — the highest annual total for several years. Up to October 2 this year, 383 gardaí have reported work injuries. The annual cost of compensation for gardaí who are maliciously injured in the course of duty averages around €15m.

Fine Gael TD, Bernard Durkan, who received the information in response to a parliamentary question, has described the frequency of how often gardaí are attacked at work as “quite shocking”.

He said questions needed to be asked about the attitude of some parts of society to the force, especially as two gardaí, Adrian Donohoe and Tony Golden, were killed on duty in Co Louth in the past three years.

“It is extremely worrying that there are consistent levels of violence towards gardaí,” said Mr Durkan.

An analysis of the figures shows gardaí in Co Louth are among the most at risk of being injured at work.

Waterford is the most dangerous Garda division to be stationed, with more than a third of all gardaí in the county experiencing some injury since 2011.

Garda figures show 99 out of 275 officers — 36% of the total based in Waterford — have been injured at work in the past five years. The national average is under 20%. More than 30% of gardaí in Co Donegal, Co Louth, and the west Dublin region which covers Blanchardstown, Ballyfermot and Finglas, have also been injured in the line of duty over the same period.

The safest part of the country to be stationed is the Garda division of Roscommon/ Longford, where just under 12% of officers have sustained a work-related injury.

Other areas with relatively low rates of injury among gardaí are counties Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo, and Dublin North Central, which includes one of the country’s busiest Garda stations, Store Street.

The figures only provide information on injuries sustained by gardaí attached to Garda stations. It does not indicate data on members attached to specialist Garda units or those stationed at Garda headquarters. (For calculating injury rates, staffing levels in December 2013 were used.)

“It is a serious challenge to the security of the state that the life and well-being of gardaí should be taken so lightly by people of that disposition. It’s no harm for society to reflect on the direction in which we are heading,” said Mr Durkan,

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald revealed last week that her department was assessing 317 claims from gardaí who were maliciously injured on duty. Information is awaited from the Garda authorities on another 550 cases.

To make a claim under the scheme, the injury must not be minor in nature and confirmation, must have occurred on duty and must not be caused as the result of wilful default or negligence on the part of the garda.

The Department of Justice paid out compensation of €7.6m in 2013 and €13.6m last year to gardaí injured on duty. A recent report by the Garda Inspectorate noted there were 258 gardaí on limited duty or restricted hours, usually as a result of injury or sickness, in March 2014 — the manpower of a small Garda division.