Gardaí reject claims by Justice Minister that force is adequately resourced

Latest: Rank and file Gardaí are rejecting claims by the Justice Minister that the force is adequately resourced.

The Garda Representative Association says its members do not have enough resources to do their jobs properly and there's huge frustration among ordinary Gardaí.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris are appearing at the GRA National Conference in Killarney today.

Minister Flanagan addressed the delegates earlier but faced an audience of Gardaí claiming they do not have the appropriate funding to do their jobs properly.

Minister Flanagan said there is an unprecedented level of resources available to Gardaí.

But that has being strongly rejected by members, who say they lack funding, resources, training and equipment.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris will address the gathering later.

He will face questions over how resources are being allocated, and how quickly new recruits are being brought in to assist frontline Gardaí in their daily duties.

Gardaí will have 'unprecedented money available', says Justice Minister

By Vivienne Clarke

Earlier: Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan says that the Garda Siochana will be adequately resourced with “unprecedented money available.”

He vowed to work alongside Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and rank and file gardaí to embrace change.

“Unprecedented money will be available this year - €1.76 billion. This is needed to ensure there are sufficient resources to drive change,” he told RTE radio’s Today with Miriam O’Callaghan.

He said he was not going to engage in a war of words with gardaí following criticism of him by GRA National Executive member Garda Damien McCarthy of Dublin South Central division who described the minister's failure to address problems with the garda's budget and resources as "negligent" and the commissioner's decision to reduce the intake of new recruits this year from 800 to 600 as "mind boggling."

“It is a matter of fact that Garda resources from this government are at an unprecedented level,” said Mr Flanagan.

The resources need to be there for the 157 recommendations for change in the Future for Policing document, he said.

The Minister said he viewed his role as two fold – to ensure resources and to make sure that criminal law is up to date. “That means the training for gardaí now taking place.”

Continuous professional development is absolutely crucial, he said, but he acknowledged that the “rolling out” of such training may not be happening at the speed gardaí want.

“That training has now commenced, it is now being rolled out. I will ensure there are sufficient funds for training courses. The days of garda scandals will be gone. They will remain in the past.”

The Minister said there is a new uniform coming on stream along with new garda vehicles and ICT. He also said he wants to ensure that armed support units are properly equipped to deal with the challenging situations they are facing.

He said he is very concerned about the situation in Drogheda with the ongoing gang feud. Operation Stratus was specifically designed to address this and there will be covert and overt units on the streets of Drogheda.

“We will ensure that the situation there is brought to a satisfactory resolution.”

As far as Drogheda is concerned the armed support unit is highly trained, he added.

“We will be talking to the community to see what else can be done.”

He said he will give a commitment that change will proceed at the pace of the 157 recommendations that will transfer the police force.

“I will ensure that the guards will be resourced.”