Garda units worked with faulty ammunition for four years following disclosure

The Garda units impacted by the faulty ammunition included the emergency response unit, regional armed support units, the national surveillance unit and the special detective unit. 

Armed gardaí in the most specialist units in the organisation were working with faulty ammunition for up to four years after a disclosure was made first made about it. 

In the event that any of these members of the gardaí had to use their weapons, there is every possibility that there would have been a malfunction.

Documents that have come to light following the media and political exposure of issues around garda whistleblowers in recent days, suggest that the matter wasn’t addressed immediately because it would cause controversy.

The units of An Garda Síochána that were using the faulty ammunition included the emergency response unit, the regional armed support units, the national surveillance unit, and the special detective unit. All of these units have access to the automatic weapon that uses the ammunition in question.

The problem came to light as a result of a protected disclosure about issues around the use and storage of ammunition in the garda firearms store. The protected disclosure was submitted in 2019.

The subsequent investigation found there was a problem with ammunition, as alleged in the protected disclosure, but also found further issues around storage and discarded weapons.

An email sent to Garda HQ referencing the investigation by a senior officer highlighted the problem.

“There are serious further alleged wrongdoings with regard to storage of equipment and procedures which are a serious and immediate concern as regards health and safety,” the mail read.

The investigation also contacted a representative of the ammunition supplier.

The representative, according to an internal Garda report, noted that the problem with the ammunition was due to “the mutated primer which, when fired, was generating excessive pressure which could damage the receiver of the firearm rendering the firearm useless or plausibly causing injury to the user”. 

The weapon in question was a Hechler and Koch automatic.

Report discussed in 2021

The report was discussed at a high-level management meeting in An Garda Síochána about the issue in February 2021. 

It is unclear whether the Garda commissioner was present for this meeting.

No decision was taken at the time to issue an immediate recall of the faulty ammunition. This was reflected in a later internal report which noted that “the return of the ammunition, if it got into the public domain, could have an adverse effect on the reputation of AGS [An Garda Síochána] in that faulty ammunition was in circulation, which could also undermine the confidence of members who carry firearms".

It wasn’t until March 2023 that an inspector was appointed to investigate and confirm the status and amount of the faulty ammunition still in the possession of the units.

The ammunition in use was part of a larger stock in a container at the An Garda Síochána firearms store, which was brought to the attention of management in the protected disclosure submitted in 2019.

On June 10, 2025, the Deputy Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly — who was since appointed commissioner — told an Oireachtas justice committee that faulty ammunition which had been stored in Garda HQ had just recently been sent to Germany to be destroyed.

Cost of disposal

The cost of the operation was €160,000 and Mr Kelly said considerable time had been spent on disposing of the material. He said that specific licences were required for export.

In the months prior to the appearance before the committee, Labour TD Alan Kelly had been raising questions about the storage of the faulty ammunition and the health hazard that had been reported. 

At the meeting, Deputy Commissioner Kelly confirmed that the material to be destroyed had arrived at a German port that very morning.

A statement from An Garda Síochána said it is “precluded by law from commenting on the detail of protected disclosures".

It said: “All reports of alleged wrongdoing received by An Garda Síochána are processed in line with the An Garda Síochána protected disclosures policy.”