Garda recruitment numbers fall short of government targets for second year in a row

Gardaí outside the former Crown Paints factory in Coolock, Dublin.

Garda numbers have risen to 14,100 at the end of June, but projected recruitment levels for this year will fall short of Government targets, for the second year in a row.

It comes as separate figures show that the number of frontline gardaí in the district of Coolock — where gardaí have been policing protests and disorder — has only increased marginally in the last year (with three extra gardaí) and still has nine fewer gardaí than four years ago.

Meanwhile, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has reassured members that they have his “full support” in terms of providing a professional response to the “outrageous and violent behaviour” they were subjected to outside a planned asylum centre in Coolock, north Dublin.

In a memo to members, Mr Harris reiterated a commitment he gave at last Thursday’s public meeting of the Policing Authority that threats on social media against individual gardaí will be investigated and a file sent to the DPP.

The latest Garda figures show that the strength of the organisation increased from 13,982 at the end of May to 14,100 at the close of June.

The number at rank of ‘garda’ now stands at 11,220, compared to 11,140 a month previously.

Total numbers for the organisation have been fluctuating around the 14,000 mark for the last year and a half.

Speaking at the authority meeting, Garda Chief Corporate Officer Siobhan Toale said that around 600 students were recruited in 2023 and that “all going well” over 700 would be taken into Templemore College this year.

But she said these numbers were “not sufficient to meet current and growing needs of the organisation”.

The numbers are considerably lower than Government statements of 1,000 garda recruits in 2023 and between 800 and 1,000 in 2024.

Ms Toale said her staff were taking July and August “to step back and just to think about what can we do to get more in and more quickly”.

The commissioner said this was “one of the big issues” for the organisation, with demands on policing “growing all the time”.

Separate garda figures for the Coolock District and the wider Dublin Northern Division show that there has been only a marginal increase in frontline garda numbers in the last year — and that they are still down on four years ago:

• Coolock District has 198 gardaí as of April 31 this year, compared to 195 on June 30, 2023 — and 207 on December 31,  2020;
• Dublin Northern Division has 645 gardaí, compared to 634 last June and 679 in December 2020.

These trends are at a time when the population across north Dublin has grown and the creation of a new Garda Protective Services Unit, to investigate sexual and domestic violence, has further taken from regular units.

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Garda Representative Association vice president Niall Hodgins said: “We have experienced a sharp increase in population since 2020, particularly in Dublin, so in my view garda numbers should have increased by at least 10% across the country in that time, not falling.”