Frontline gardaí fear 'perfect storm' over staffing crisis

Detective Garda Mark Ferris said: “We see resignations now running at record levels. There has been an increase of almost 170% from 2017 figures.” 

Rank-and-file gardaí are concerned that the Garda organisation is in the midst of a “perfect storm” caused by a recruitment and retention crisis, a frontline garda representative has said.

Garda Mark Ferris said that, in addition, members on the ground were under “more or less constant attack” from criminals, reflected in what he said was a 20% increase in assaults.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) official also said gardaí involved in car pursuits were being “stood down”, something, he said, criminals were aware of. He said this was putting the road network at the “mercy of car-borne gangsters with zero regard for road users”.

In an article in the GRA journal, the Garda Review, Gda Ferris said: "There are major concerns within rank-and-file that the force is in the midst of a perfect storm with a recruitment and retention crisis that is simply unprecedented."

The garda strength stood at 13,927 at the end of May 2023, compared to 13,997 the previous month, and 14,347 one year ago. Garda resignations stood at 59 at the end of May, compared to 108 for the whole of 2022, 95 in 2021 and 69 in 2020. In Cork city, figures show there are 15 fewer gardaí than three years ago.

Gda Ferris said: “We see resignations now running at record levels. There has been an increase of almost 170% from 2017 figures.” 

The representative for Dublin West said current pay, pensions and working conditions do not fairly compensate members, given the “risks to members’ life and limb and the stress of having to constantly look over your shoulder to see if Gsoc are looming”.

He said that in a bid to address the staffing crisis the Government should consider giving a garda “tax rebate” in the form of a lump sum after five years of service. He said “burdensome paperwork”, such as signingSstate forms, was demoralising gardaí who “simply want to get on with policing rather than pen-pushing”.

Gda Ferris said there should be a “full review” by an independent person of Gsoc following allegations surrounding links between a now former Gsoc investigator and the Hutch gang.

He said this was needed to “restore garda confidence in the agency” and said current legislation going through the Oireachtas, the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill, should “certainly not progress” until that review was completed.

'No fear of the law'

Gda Ferris said members were under “more or less constant attack from criminals who seem to have no fear of the law” and said assaults on members were up 20% on last year.

He said members involved in vehicle pursuits were being “stood down as permission is denied by superior officers” and said criminals were aware of the constraints that oblige officers to make these calls.

“The proliferation of these incidents – specifically the incredibly dangerous wrong-way driving tactic – make for a road network that is now at the mercy of car-borne gangsters with zero regard for other road users,” he said.

Gda Ferris also flagged concerns at the impact of the proposed hate crime legislation on gardaí: “This bill when enacted could significantly expand the workload of ordinary gardaí as it would appear to create an opaque legal climate where offences will be a matter of subjective interpretation, each one requiring a laborious and time-consuming investigation."