Garda resignations surged to a record high in 2023, accelerating a trend that has become more pronounced in recent years.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has, however, sought to offset the increase by granting special permission to retirement-age gardaí to continue serving.
The Irish Times has learned 62 extensions of service in the Garda were granted last year, compared to 54 in the previous two years combined. Already this year, 17 extensions have been approved, with a much larger number expected to follow in coming months.
The number of Garda members who resigned last year reached 164, some 50 per cent higher than 2022 and just over six times higher than the number recorded in 2016. Many of those resigning are doing so in the first five years of service.
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The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents rank-and-file gardaí, said the Government and senior Garda management needed to intervene to make policing a more attractive career to help stem resignations. GRA president Brendan O’Connor added the “inevitable impact” of resignations was a reduction in the policing service that could be provided to the public.
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More than one in 10 resignations nationally was occurring in the Dublin West Garda division, where GRA representative Mark Ferris said “policing is now at breaking point”.
“Our members are exposed to a high-risk, hostile environment, in which veteran criminals look to inflict injury on them,” he said. That increased hostility, coupled with a reduction in pensions, was contributing to a retention “crisis”.
The strength of the Garda reached an all-time high in spring 2020, with 14,750 members. However, the pandemic forced the closure of the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary, meaning recruitment was halted. During that period Garda numbers fell to 13,850, and though recruitment has since recommenced, Garda numbers have persistently remained below 14,000.
In reply to queries, Garda Headquarters said while resignations had increased last year, they amounted to “approximately 1 per cent of the total Garda workforce”, while retirements had fallen in 2023.
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Over the last three years, some 14 per cent of gardaí due to retire on mandatory age grounds had requested an extension to continue working. Furthermore, when a 2018 cultural audit of the Garda concluded members of the force wanted more frontline supervision, some 650 promotions were made to sergeant and inspector level.
“These historically high numbers of extensions and promotions demonstrate a high level of commitment by gardaí to An Garda Síochána, far in excess of the number of resignations,” Garda Headquarters added in its reply to queries. It also noted 947 Garda recruits had been taken into the force since November 2022, with another recruitment campaign set to commence next week.
In reply to queries, the office of the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she had made it clear “nothing is off the table when it comes to recruitment and retention”.
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Late last year the training allowance payable to Garda recruits had increased 66 per cent to €305. The maximum age for new entrants was being increased from 35 to 50 years. The Government planned to increase the Garda force to 15,000 members for the first time “and to keep growing beyond that”, the Department of Justice said.
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