The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said today the Government would fulfill a pre-election promise of an extra 2,000 gardaí when "budgetry circumstances permit". Speaking in Tullamore, Co Tipperary, he also said some key Garda stations may be shut.
Mr McDowell blamed the delay in following through on the promise of extra officers on the cap on public service numbers introduced in the last Budget.
"The programme for Government states that the Government will complete the current expansion of the Garda Síochana and increase recruitment so that the numbers will increase by a further 2,000."
"It is true that the extra recruitment has been delayed by the cap on public service numbers, but we will make progress as soon as budgetry circumstances permit." Mr McDowell said.
According to a Garda spokesman the number of new recruits entering the force fluctuates while around 400 gardaí leave the force annually, however, the force remains consistent at around the 12,000 mark.
The Minister made his comments during the graduation ceremony of 118 new recruits in Templemore, Co Tipperary, this afternoon.
The 118 new gardaí include 39 women and come from almost every county in the State. However, Dublin remains under-represented, with the 13 Dublin-born Gardaí making up just 11 per cent of the graduates.
Mr McDowell also floated the idea that outdated Garda stations would be sold to pay for the cost of new stations in a wide-ranging modernisation programme. "I want to see stations which are up-to-date, located where the demand for their services is greatest," he said.
Stations in close proximity to each other such as Mountjoy, Fitzgibbon Street and Store Street stations in Dublin would be amalgamated under the plan, it has been reported.
However, the decisions on which stations will be affected will be made at a later date by the Garda Commissioner Mr Noel Conroy.
Labour's spokesman on justice, Mr Joe Costello, said he was "shocked" at the news that some stations may close "especially when Irish society is still experiencing such a worrying level of crime."
"I am even more shocked that the stations to be selected for closure are apparently to be in urban areas where crime levels are at their highest.
"What sort of message is this going to send out to the criminals and to local communities that are under siege from crime and vandalism?"
