Call for up to 900 new gardaí annually

Senior gardaí have said that an additional 200 to 300 garda recruits are needed every year on top of the commitment to take on 600 officers annually.

Supt Denis Ferry, general secretary of the Association of Garda Superintendents, said the force was losing an average of 300 gardaí to retirement every year.

“We have probably identified about 800 to 900 extra per year,” he told the association’s annual conference in Kildare.