Strength of local drug units collapses 40% despite recruitment

There has been a 40% drop in the number of gardaí in local drug units in the last eight years — a fall that has continued despite the restarting of recruitment.

Official figures show that the combined strength of the country’s 28 divisional drug units stands at 231 as at the end of last February, compared to 378 in 2010.

The fall has continued despite the ending of the embargo on recruitment in September 2014, with numbers falling steadily from 258 in 2015 to 231 in 2018 (-10%).