Plans to increase new garda recruits to 1,000 per year
The Garda Commissioner says An Garda Síochána is planning to increase the number of new garda recruits to 1,000 every year.
Drew Harris will tell the Oireachtas Justice Committee this afternoon they are working with the Office of Public Works to to increase the capacity of the Garda College to accommodate 250 new recruits.
He says they want to run two recruitment competitions, with four intakes of two hundred and fifty each, to the Garda College in Templemore every year.
He also says the gardaí are currently in discussions with other third level institutions regarding recruit garda training and is committed to meeting the Government's target of 5,000 new gardaí over the next five years.
The figure of 1,000 new gardaí is unlikely to be met this year at current recruitment rates.
The Commissioner has also rejected claims that the level of resignations from An Garda Síochána is high, pointing to the fact that 140 of 14,000 resigned, a ratio of 1% and 29 fewer than the year before.
The figure is lower than the UK and some police forces, he says, have a resignation rate of 10%
He also said the recent loss of the roads policing Garda Kevin Flatley who died in the line of duty serves "as a stark reminder of the risks gardaí face" and puts "into sharp focus the dangers that exist on our roads today."
Last year, one driver was arrested every hour of every day for driving under the influence of drink or drugs and there was a 14% increase in the number of Fixed Charge Notices and penalty points for mobile phones.
Seventy people have died on the roads so far this year, five less than last year, a reduction which the Commissioner points out "is no consolation for the bereaved families."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Digging machinery brought into Annie McCarrick search site
Demolition experts have brought new digging machinery into the search for Annie McCarrick this morning. A demolition company, which is assisting the Garda search on a West Dublin property, were seen driving the small vehicle into the grounds earlier today. It is understood Gardai have excavated a large hole under an extension of the property - between the front and back garden - where they are searching for any evidence of Ms McCarrick, who vanished from Sandymount in March 1993. The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week A uniformed Garda kept watch as workers brought the machinery onto the site this morning - as the search of the property now enters its third week. Sources say Gardai are taking their time in a methodical and thorough search of what used to be a garden but now part of the property. The current occupants of the home have no connection to the investigation and have been re housed for the duration of this ongoing search. It comes as we today revealed our extensive interview with one of the suspects in the case - who was recently interviewed by Gardai in another country. The man's brother was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Annie McCarrick earlier this month - and has since been released without charge. In our exclusive interview the man's brother said he believed he too had been treated as a suspect - and insisted that they are both innocent. 'My brother and I have nothing to do with Annie's disappearance,' he told us. He insisted to us that he has a 'watertight alibi' regarding himself - and that his brother also has nothing to do with Annie's disappearance. 'No (I was not surprised gardai came to interview me), because I've been involved in this from day one,' the man told us. "It was I that reported her missing. I was the first person who made the statement in respect of her disappearance in order that the guards might not spend time worrying or spend time investigating me. 'I said this is my alibi, this is who I was with and it was airtight - watertight. Every other tight. So I would have been one of the first to be ruled out of the investigation and I would have imagined that was the same as my brother.' Speaking to us as gardai continue to search a house in West Dublin, the man said he did not see his brother often -during the time that Annie disappeared. 'God no I wasn't seeing him on a regular basis then. Sorry I beg your pardon, that doesn't mean that I wouldn't have seen him on a regular basis, but it would not be - I could go months without seeing him. His life and my life did not cross over,' he said. He then went on to deny that anything he recently told gardai gave them anything new that led to the arrest of his brother - and the massive invasive search in West Dublin. "The police are feeding you lies. The police are feeding twists. They did indeed interview me but there was nothing about my interview with them that gave them fresh evidence to go after my brother,' he said. "Bear in mind he's been a suspect for 32 years - which is fine. Why didn't he do anything in the past 32 years guard? 32 years. They can't pin anything on him. There is nothing to pin. 'They looked at some rubbish. OK that's fine, I don't have a problem with that but they looked and they looked and they looked and they couldn't come up with anything and then a new push on to make cold cases into murder cases. 'So there's a new push and all the boys want a result and by God will they get a result no matter what they do. It doesn't matter whether they get the guilty person. That's not in their brief. They want a result,' he said. Asked about the search of the home in West Dublin, the man said gardai were wasting their time and the taxpayers money too. Well it's outlandish to believe such a thing. I can't figure out how they could have found justification for spending the guts of E100,000 of the States money on such a fool's errand,' he said. 'It was a surprise to me and I just thought, my God , they're wasting their time. We've nothing to do with, my brother and I have nothing to do with Annie's disappearance.' He went on to speak about his belief that he was being treated as a suspect in this case - and insisted there was 'nothing erroneous" about either of his statements to gardai 32 years ago and in recent months. 'Do you not think I'm a suspect? Did the cops not state to you that I'm a suspect as well?' he said. 'Yeah they didn't arrest me, yeah that's fine. I'm not in Ireland at the moment. It's fine they can leave me for as long as they want,' he added. He also claimed that gardai have 'nothing' on his brother - who declined to speak to us when contacted on Friday. 'Bearing in mind they did arrest him for 24 hours and they did release him without charge. They have nothing,' he said. 'There's nothing in this case. It's just totally baseless. Look at it now what have they done with their helicopters and their diggers. What have they got? Nada. Zilch. 'I know nothing about Annie's disappearance and I know nothing about her murder. Nobody can (say I do) because I'm not. Nor are you, nor is the pope in Rome, nor is President O'Higgins,' he said. 'They wasted their time,' he added, telling us that 'I've been on this case for 32 years in my head.' Last week the man's brother, who was arrested in this case, hung up on this paper when contacted by phone - after we identified ourselves when he asked 'who's this?' It comes as we have also learned how tragic Annie, from Long Island in New York, had told pals 'I've made a terrible mistake' shortly before she vanished. Sources say a guilt ridden Annie wanted to confess to the girlfriend of the suspect that she had had a romantic encounter with him. We've also learned that pals have claimed the suspect was at the time known to be 'angered' that Annie had returned to Ireland from the United States - after deciding to permanently move here in January 1993. 'He was upset that she had decided to come back. He was known to be very unhappy about it,' a source said. This week the suspect also did not respond to a text from us asking if he denied involvement in the disappearance of Ms McCarrick - who he is believed to have had a romantic entanglement with shortly before she vanished in March 1993. The now wealthy man, who was arrested on suspicion of murder and released without charge last week, has been laying low ever since - as a massive garda search takes place on a Clondalkin home once connected to him some 32 years ago. As revealed by us last week, the suspect is a wealthy man who had been renting out a plush country house as a holiday home - charging members of the public close to €400 a night. We called to that address and another connected to the man this week - but no one answered the door.
Irish Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Man charged in connection with damage to Taoiseach Micheal Martin's Cork office
A man in his 30s has appeared in court, charged in connection with an incident of criminal damage after Taoiseach Micheál Martin's office in Cork was vandalised. Pictures shared online last Wednesday morning, June 18, showed 'Zionist pawn' written on the window of the Fianna Fáil leaders office, with red paint on the front of the building. A pamphlet was also fixed to the door of the office, making allegations against the Taoiseach and the Irish Government in relation to the conflict in Gaza. Last Wednesday's attack is the most recent in a string on the office in recent weeks. On Monday, Gardaí confirmed that as part of ongoing investigations into the criminal damage incident, a man in his 30s was arrested on Saturday, June 21. He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at a Garda station in Cork, following an operation carried out by the Crime Special Unit, Cork City. He has since been charged and was due to appear before Cork District Court on Monday, 23 June at 10:30am. A Garda spokesperson said that investigations are continuing.
Irish Independent
4 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Kerry Tusla say child exploitation ‘not confined to any one agency or sector'
Speaking at a recent regional event involving Tusla and An Garda Síochána titled, 'Child Exploitation – An Interagency Response', it discussed the protocols around building trust, relationships, sharing knowledge, and taking action in a shared commitment to keep children and young people safe. Ms Ryan said the forum is a testament to the strong partnership between Tusla and An Garda Síochána. It included 140 professionals from across both agencies in the Southwest region incorporating Cork and Kerry. The forum featured expert speakers from Tusla and An Garda Síochána, as well as the HSE and legal and academic professionals, all contributing to a deeper understanding of child exploitation and how to combat it. Colm Noonan is Detective Chief Superintendent with the National Child Protection Unit. He spoke about 'Operation Cosnaim' which assists professionals in identifying perpetrators and protecting children who may be at risk of sexual exploitation. He said prevention is all of 'our responsibility' and that the risks to children needed to be identified at the earliest chance. Mr Noonan also spoke of the growing threat of human trafficking. Other speakers at the June 18 event included Detective Kevin Hastings and Detective Sergeant David Noonan. They shared insights into digital evidence gathering and interagency cooperation with an example of a successful prosecution of an individual targeting a number of children in the community in respect of sexual exploitation. Leah McDonnell, Principal Social Worker, also co-presented on the case study.
