Violent assaults against gardaí are increasing, according to new figures that reveal 166 officers were attacked so seriously they were off work for three days or more last year.
The data, released by An Garda Síochána, reveal the number of serious attacks has increased over the last three years. In 2003 there were 161 assaults resulting in officers off work for three or more days; in 2002 there were 146 such attacks.
Supt Kevin Donoghue of the Garda Press Office said: "The force has to accept that the level of assaults is increasing and various measures are being examined to combat this". However, he declined to say what specific actions were being planned but said they did not include changes to Garda training.
Details of the number of assaults on gardaí comes one month after Garda Dave Comar and Garda James Hendricks suffered serious injuries after being stabbed while on duty in Dublin.
Dermot O'Donnell, Garda Representative Association president
The Garda also released figures that showed officers took an average of 11.4 sick days last year, equivalent to more than 570 of the 12,200 gardaí being unavailable for duty. This figure is almost identical to the previous year.
Dermot O'Donnell, Garda Representative Association (GRA) president, said violent assaults on gardaí "were becoming very, very frequent". He also said the Garda management figures do not reveal the true extent of the problem.
"An Garda does not keep a database of attacks. So unless a garda is hospitalised the likelihood is that that person will parade for duty the following day with the result that hundreds and hundreds of assaults are never recorded," he said.
Supt Donoghue confirmed that only assaults leading to three or more days off duty were recorded, in accordance with Health and Safety legislation.
"Everybody walking the streets of their town can see the level of public order issues is on the rise at weekends. Take the 43 Dublin stations as an example," Mr O'Donnell said. "Are you telling me only four officers in each station were assaulted last year. That defies logic."
The Police Service of Northern Ireland, which monitors all assaults on officers, recorded 2,086 attacks on its 8,944 officers in 2004, contributing to an average of 12.2 sick days per annum.
"I would say the real level of assaults on gardaí is much closer to the PSNI level," says Mr O'Donnell.
The figures have led to GRA call for additional protective equipment, including anti-stab vests and training in the use of pepper spray. Supt Donoghue denied there was an issue with absenteeism in the force. He said last year there were 125,619 certified sick days in the force and only 13,234 uncertified.
The number of days lost to illness by gardaí is far behind the average of 23.8 days sick days reported by prison officers last year. Officers in the Probation and Welfare Service were absent for an average of 8.86 days last year, while courts service officers reported sick on 7.73 days a year.
"This compares very well with the wider public service where employees can take seven days without a medical certificate," said Mr O'Donnell.
