Drew Harris rules out overtime to get more gardaí on streets of Cork City

'The constraint isn’t money, it's recruitment,' said the Garda Commissioner

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris faced several calls from political and business leaders in Cork City for increased garda visibility on the streets.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has ruled out the blanket approval of overtime to get more gardaí on the beat in Cork City.

Mr Harris dismissed the suggestion at a meeting of the Cork City joint policing committee (JPC) which heard that the city Garda division has 23 fewer gardaí than it did three years ago — the figure went from 638 in 2016 to a high of 730 in 2021 but now stands at 707.