Figures show Garda strength is 'not growing' despite recruitment drive

Garda representative bodies have raised concerns at the physical and mental toll on frontline gardaí dealing with the scale of verbal abuse, aggression and violence from members of the public and what they see as onerous bureaucracy and oversight. File photo: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie

Garda numbers dipped in April despite a batch of new graduates in March, official figures show.

Some 166 trainees left Templemore Garda College on March 21 and entered the organisation — the first of five batches of new members expected this year. 

Senior justice sources are concerned that the garda strength is “not growing” despite the numbers being recruited. “The biggest problem is, if we are not recruiting fast enough and numbers are drifting away, we are not growing,” one source said.

Figures show that there were 14,013 gardaí at the end of April, down slightly from 14,059 the previous month. Garda numbers started to grow slowly towards the end of last year, from 13,880 at the end of September to 13,960 by January.

They dipped slightly in February to 13,930, before a rise the following month.

“It’s a bit up and down and we are struggling to pull away from the 14,000 mark,” a senior source said. “It’s going to be a long slog to significantly increase numbers this year.” 

The garda figures are contained in the Garda Commissioner’s report for May.

The Garda strength fell consistently from a high of 14,750 in March 2020 to a low of 13,880 last September. It is estimated that covid restrictions prevented between 1,000 and 1,500 planned student gardaí from being recruited during 2020 and 2021.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said Budget 2024 provided funding for the recruitment of between 800 and 1,000 trainees this year — in five batches of around 200, spaced some 10 weeks apart.

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The monthly report says that 57 gardaí have resigned from the organisation by the end of April, compared to 42 in the same period in 2023. Last year saw the highest number of resignations on record with 169 for the full year, compared to 108 in 2022 and 69 in 2020.

There were 90 retirements to the end of April this year, compared to 112 in the same period in 2023.

Garda representative bodies have raised concerns at the physical and mental toll on frontline gardaí dealing with the scale of verbal abuse, aggression and violence from members of the public and what they see as onerous bureaucracy and oversight.

They are concerns shared by some senior managers, with one saying: 

They are exhausted, they are worn out. 

Garda management and members hope the beginning of the roll-out of bodycams will change the behaviour of people gardaí are dealing with.

The monthly report pointed out that 123 gardaí have applied for an extension to their service past the retirement age. The report said that 186 trainees commenced in the Garda College on April 8.

A total of 6,380 people applied to join the gardaí in the most recent competition earlier this year. The report said An Garda Síochána has received 134 candidate names from the Public Appointments Service, to date, in relation to the 2024 competition.

Elsewhere, the report said that overtime payments for gardaí stood at €60.48m at the end of April, some €13.69m over budget.

The report also said that the mobility of civilian garda staff, at various grades, is having a “significant impact” on the implementation of the new restructuring of the garda organisation being rolled out across the country.