Thousands more gardaí needed, AGSI conference told

Gardaí are not receiving proper training to carry out new procedures and policies, said AGSI deputy general secretary Ronan Clogher. File Picture.

Some 18,000 operational gardaí — significantly higher than the current 15,000 target — are needed to cope with current workloads, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has warned.

Only 14,000 gardaí are currently employed in the force despite a major population increase, said AGSI deputy general secretary Ronan Clogher.

The recruitment and retention crisis is a major focus of this year’s AGSI annual conference in Westport, Co Mayo, which began today.

“We have just short of 14,000 guards at present," said Mr Clogher.

“The optimum number of guards required is around 18,000 operational gardaí.

“That is not garda support administration staff, that is operational guards,” he said.

The career is no longer attractive to young people, he said.

Resignations have also been rising, and if current trends continue, An Garda Síochána is looking at a 20% increase in resignations, he said.

By the end of March this year, there were already more than 30 resignations, it is understood. Some 162 gardaí resigned last year, compared to just 24 resignations in 2016. 

“A raft of retirements” are also due by the latter part of this year, Mr Clogher said.

People are leaving the force early “and the question that has to be asked, and the question the Government has to ask themselves here, is why”, he said.

Why are these people leaving early and why can they not get young people in?"

Despite the recent recruitment drive, the numbers are insufficient to meet demand, he said.

Social media is also a problem, with people shoving phones in garda faces “all the time”, he added.

Assaults, intimidation, and abuse of gardaí are also on the rise, he said.

AGSI will call on Justice Minister Helen McEntee to address this when she visits the conference tomorrow and to introduce mandatory sentencing for assaults on gardaí.

Increasing prison sentences "is no good" when people who assault gardaí are walking out with suspended sentences "week in, week out", he said.  

When asked if the job as a garda is worse than it was, he said that with falling resources and the increased demand, gardaí are expected to do more with less.

Members are not receiving proper training to carry out new procedures and policies, they then go out on the street and can make mistakes, he added.

“The fact that you cannot make a mistake in the guards is a big, big problem," he said.

“They have to move more towards the 'lessons learned' concept rather than this constant rush to discipline. It's discipline, discipline, discipline, and young members see this and they go: 'I've enough of this, I'm out of here'.”