An Garda Síochána: Motion [Private Members]

Deputy Alan Kelly

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes that:

— there are still fewer serving members of An Garda Síochána in 2026, compared to six years ago, with 14,187 available members at the end of January 2026, in contrast to 14,235 members in 2020;

— accounting for population growth, this fall in numbers means that there are now 10 per cent fewer Gardaí per capita than there were five years ago;

— the Programme for Government committed to recruiting at least 5,000 new Garda recruits and additional Garda staff by 2030;

— trainee intakes remain far too low to achieve adequate policing levels, with just 619 Gardaí attesting from Templemore in 2025;

— during 2025, 29 per cent of Garda Divisions, and 46 per cent of Garda Districts, either lost Garda members or saw no change in numbers;

— the numbers of Gardaí unavailable due to suspension has rapidly increased in recent years, with 107 Gardaí suspended at the end of 2025, versus just 39 in December 2018;

— over 2025, the number of Community Gardaí fell from 700 to 615; and

— there were just 308 Garda Reserve members as of 31st January, 2026, down from 1,164 in 2013;

recognises that:

— over a year since the formation of the new Government, no new plan has been put in place to increase Garda recruitment and expand the size of the force, in line with public commitments;

— morale within the force was severely damaged under the tenure of the previous Garda Commissioner, with the high-profile mistreatment of serving members, and a steady trend of Gardaí leaving the force or retiring early;

— serious questions remain about the conduct of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and senior Garda leadership towards serving members in the Limerick region, and in the Garda bike loan case;

— further serious questions remain unanswered about the procurement and use of inappropriate gun holsters, and the storage of firearms, live scan fingerprints, drugs and cash at Garda Headquarters; and

— the Government failed to declare, over seven years, that the previous Garda Commissioner was provided with rent free accommodation through the Office of Public Works, that underwent €400,000 worth of renovations before being made available in 2018;

further notes that:

— the then Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications in May 2024, and stated that an additional 150 Gardaí would be allocated to Roads Policing over 2024 and 2025;

— on 31st December, 2023, there were 632 Gardaí allocated to Roads Policing, while on 31st December, 2025, there were 647 Gardaí allocated to Roads Policing, an increase of just 15 members, or 10 per cent of the Commissioner's stated aim;

— 40 per cent of the Garda vehicles fleet is over six years old;

— significant concerns have been raised regarding the impact of the new Garda Operating Model (GOM) implemented from 2019 onwards, which breaks the link between Gardaí and local communities, in particular in rural areas;

— in response to an Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors survey in 2025, 90 per cent of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors indicated that high visibility policing has not increased since the introduction of the GOM, and that the GOM is "unsuitable for rural policing", while 98 per cent of respondents called for an urgent review of the GOM; and

— the Policing and Community Safety Authority assessment of An Garda Síochána's policing performance throughout the first half of 2025, found that 11 of 18 performance indicators were "at risk";

acknowledges:

— the crucial role played by An Garda Síochána in protecting and serving communities across Ireland;

— the critical importance of a locally embedded, well-resourced, modern police service, in enabling communities to flourish;

— the crisis of low morale that has been allowed to develop among rank-and-file Gardaí under successive governments, due to consistent under-resourcing and a failing operational policing model, and the impact that crisis has on the ability of An Garda Síochána to perform its critical functions; and

— that selective internal investigations within An Garda Síochána have been weaponised against members of the force who raise legitimate concerns, submit protected disclosures or act as whistleblowers;

calls on the Government to initiate a public inquiry into the conduct of internal Garda investigations during, and subsequent to, the tenure of the former Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris; and

in order to address recruitment shortfalls, improve morale, and strengthen policing in Ireland, further calls on the Government to:

— urgently publish a funded plan to ensure at least 1,000 new Gardaí are trained every year;

— review the current GOM, and where it is not consistent with effective rural and community policing, to halt its implementation;

— enhance the community policing model to standardise rostering in line with other Gardaí, introduce appropriate promotional opportunities, and increase the use of pedal cycles in urban community policing;

— increase the Garda training allowance to the equivalent of a starting salary, and review pay and pension issues for serving staff;

— provide each Garda District and the communities living there with a clear timeline of when increased numbers of Gardaí will be deployed to address safety concerns and anti-social behaviour, and roll out domestic abuse coordination teams across every region;

— commit to a measurable plan to increase roads policing, and invest in the vehicle fleet and Garda equipment;

— invest in expanding Templemore Training College and the Garda lands and facilities at Dromard, Clonmore, to ensure at least 1,000 new recruits are trained per year; and

— introduce an occupational supplementary pension to the Single Public Service Pension Scheme, as a key retention measure for uniformed service personnel.

I will be sharing time with my colleagues. This motion is one of the most important I have ever brought forward as a TD. As the Minister knows, I have been man-marking him for the last year and half as spokesperson on justice. I wanted this role, and one of the reasons I wanted it is because I believe An Garda Síochána needs complete support. It also, though, needs to be supported in a way where change is managed. I have a deep concern in this regard.

Our commitment in the Labour Party to An Garda Síochána is demonstrated by this motion. I have got huge support from members of the force across all ranks. We need to change how we police in a positive way. I acknowledge that some of the actions the Minister has taken are positive, but there are many other issues that have not been dealt with and many legacy issues.

We need to change how we recruit and retain our gardaí and serving gardaí, and, indeed, how we use our retired gardaí. For the fourth time, I had an email this morning from a lady whose son left An Garda Síochána about four months after graduating, after actually qualifying to be a garda, because he could not live here in Dublin. He has now sought to see if he can rejoin because he has found accommodation, and he was told that he will have to start all over again. That is not common sense. I will give the Minister the details.

I am also worried about the Minister’s Department, and I have said this directly to him before. My worry is that I think there is a need for a reboot in relation to how this Department relates to An Garda Síochána because, in many ways, I think it is dysfunctional. The Minister has had to apologise to me more than once for the answers and information he has given me relating to policing matters. I have a deep concern about the answers I get from the Minister’s Department. I have a deep concern about the answers I do not get from the Minister’s Department. I have a deep concern about the questions I put in to which answers are refused. I have a deep concern about the Minister's Department’s relationship with An Garda Síochána and certain aspects. I want to say that on the record here.

In real terms, we have fewer gardaí. There has been a 10% drop in real terms when we do a pro rata comparison between where we are as a population now and where we were a number of years ago. The programme for Government commits to recruiting 5,000 new gardaí. I do not believe there is a hope in hell of that happening. Equally, the Minister keeps quoting the fact that 11,000 people applied to join An Garda Síochána. A total of 11,000 people put their name in. Were they asked why they pulled out? Were they asked why they did not proceed? Were they exit interviewed? I have spoken to many of them and they have told me why, and it is not good.

Trainee intakes are too low in Templemore. We also need huge investment in Templemore. I acknowledged and thanked the Minister for the investment that has been announced. The simple fact of the matter is that this group has been set up a second time round to look at the requirements for recruitment in our country. Why is the Minister not dealing with the fact that we have a huge piece of land out the road from Templemore, in Dromard in Clonmore? The Minister made a commitment to me that he will look at it. Templemore needs to keep every aspect of its training for wholesome purposes, and any failure to do so will be an indictment of the Minister's Government.

In relation to the districts, 46% of Garda districts lost gardaí or stood still in 2025. The number of gardaí suspended in 2025 was 107, compared to 39 in 2018. That is worrying. Why has there been this increase? The Garda Reserve has collapsed. There were 1,164 members in 2013 versus 308 now. The Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, told the Oireachtas committee in May 2024 that an additional 150 roads policing gardaí would be in place by 2024-25. In 2023, there were 632 roads policing gardaí. At the end of December 2025, there were 647. That is a total of 15 new members from 150. I ask the Minister to do the maths. We all talk about road safety and road issues, but this shows that commitment was not honoured. A total of 40% of the Garda fleet is over six years old.

The operating model of An Garda Síochána is a bloody joke. Gardaí from east Clare are having to cover Roscrea. It is impossible. Gardaí are leaving Newport to go down to cover Roscrea. This is a major town with many significant issues and a closed Garda station.

I hear an awful lot about visibility. The Minister talks about high visibility working. I agree 100% with him. Why can we not have it in Roscrea, Templemore, Thurles, Nenagh, Newport and Ballina, and not just in Dublin? If I walk out of here, I will fall over gardaí all the way up to Grafton Street. I might turn up in the Minister’s direction or down onto O’Connell Street. If the Minister were to come down to north Tipperary, he would see how many gardaí are around the place, even in Templemore.

We have huge issues that need to be dealt with. The Policing and Community Safety Authority, PCSA, assessment of An Garda Síochána's performance found that 11 out of 18 performance indicators were at risk. That is not good. We need to deal with how we can make a Garda career a better one. I have some suggestions, because the Minister often challenges others to put forward their own proposals.

So, here we go. The training allowance should be linked to pay to show gardaí what they will be earning initially. We need more investment in Templemore to show gardaí the infrastructure they are going to be using. We need to introduce an occupational supplementary pension to the single public services pension scheme to ensure that those who operate in these services, particularly in An Garda Síochána, will see it as a worthwhile career. That is so important. Another thing is that if someone takes up another job when they retire from An Garda Síochána, in many cases, depending on when they retired, a significant portion of their pension is taken off them. Why can we not use these gardaí to do up to 20 hours a week of work in Garda stations as civilians, given their expertise? I have said this to the Minister before.

Finally, we have to deal with legacy issues. The Minister has to deal with legacy issues. He can never say to me he does not know enough about these because I have raised hundreds of parliamentary questions with him. I have spoken about this in committee with him, I have spoken on the floor of the Dáil and I have spoken publicly when it comes to the disgraceful way in which Limerick gardaí have been treated and the fact that the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste believe it needs to be investigated but for some reason the Minister does not. When it comes to the issue of the holsters and the way in which that issue is being dealt with, the loss of fingerprints, the bike scandal, all of these legacy issues and many more need to be dealt with.

Deputy Conor Sheehan

Time and again we have seen Women's Aid and other organisations criticise the Garda response to domestic violence. Last year, almost half of survivors surveyed described their Garda experience as unhelpful. The issue here is not all gardaí; the issue is some gardaí and an inconsistency in their approach. We need more consistent mandatory and specialised training to properly protect survivors of domestic abuse. The 2024 Garda ombudsman report sets out very clearly what the issues are in relation to training. It is not trauma-informed or responsive. The shift to online training has removed opportunities to enhance learning through discussion and sharing of operational experience, and domestic abuse support services are no longer involved in developing and delivering training. To address these weaknesses, the inspectorate recommends the Garda Síochána develop a domestic abuse-related training plan in partnership with relevant agencies and support services.

Recently a constituent of mine, who was a survivor of domestic abuse, told me that when she called An Garda Síochána to the home she shared with her ex-partner more than a year ago, she was told by the garda who attended the scene that they "did not get involved in domestics" and she was effectively ordered to leave the home. When she refused to leave, she was threatened with arrest, so she left the home and her two children with her ex-partner, and this was after he pulled her down the stairs by her hair in the home they shared. The inconsistency in the approach between different members of An Garda Síochána is something that needs to be addressed. I welcome the work that is being done in relation to Cuan but I have had a number of these cases come to me in the past year or so and it is frightening.

Regarding what my colleague, Deputy Kelly, said about the suspended gardaí in my own city of Limerick, that was completely unacceptable. How can you have a case where €3.5 million of taxpayers' money is spent on a near decade-long prosecution leaving Garda morale in Limerick on the floor and the officers stripped of their dignity? Even when the Taoiseach himself and the Tánaiste both agree on the need for a review, I note the Government's countermotion has completely ignored this.

On high-visibility policing, I welcome the additional Garda high-visibility policing plan in Limerick and the additional probationers but we need a permanent funding solution for live monitoring of the CCTV.

Deputy Eoghan Kenny

I thank my colleague, Deputy Alan Kelly, for bringing this extremely important motion forward. I start by acknowledging the gardaí on the ground, particularly in my own area, who do extraordinary work in very difficult circumstances. They deal daily with antisocial behaviour, drug intimidation, thefts, public disorder and repeat offenders, and they are doing so often with limited numbers, limited resources and increasing pressure. We need to be honest about every situation that is facing An Garda Síochána. Recruitment and retention are serious problems. We are losing experienced gardaí faster than we are replacing them and morale in many stations is not where it should be. Many gardaí feel overstretched, frustrated and, in some cases, abandoned by a system that is not working.

We also need to talk about antisocial behaviour and repeat offenders. Gardaí are arresting the same individuals over and over again. We regularly see people before the courts with 100, 200 or even 300 previous convictions and yet they are back on the streets within days. That is simply not good enough. It is not fair on victims, it is not fair on our communities, and it is certainly not fair on the ordinary member of An Garda Síochána who arrests someone on a Monday morning and could be dealing with the same person again by the weekend. Our court and sentencing structures must support law enforcement and protect the public, and supports must be put in place to keep people out of crime.

We are also seeing far more young people becoming involved in crime. Our juvenile liaison officers can only do so much. Funding must be provided to this specific area so that we see far fewer young people being dragged into crime which they never had any intention of being part of in the first place. If proper supports, opportunities and activities were provided effectively, particularly in poorer socioeconomic areas, we would see far fewer younger people becoming involved in the crime in the first place. Prevention must be taken as seriously as enforcement.

I wish to raise the issue I previously put to the former Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, regarding the stay of a chief superintendent and his wife in a five star Dublin hotel during the visit of the former US President, Joe Biden. I did not receive what I consider to be a satisfactory answer on this. As a member of the public accounts committee, where I first raised the issue, I have now requested the committee write to the Commissioner to outline the findings of this investigation, to explain how thorough that investigation was, and, importantly, to establish where the money for these hotel stays came from. Public money must be accounted for and there must always be transparency and accountability, particularly in An Garda Síochána.

In conclusion, gardaí are doing their job but the system is not always doing its job for them. We need more gardaí, better retention, stronger morale, proper resources, youth intervention funding, and a justice system that supports gardaí and protects communities. Until the Minister addresses these issues properly, he is asking gardaí to do an increasingly difficult job with one hand tied behind their back.

Deputy George Lawlor

This motion addresses a crisis that has been allowed to deepen within An Garda Síochána, an institution that is fundamental to the safety and well-being of communities across this country. The facts outlined in this motion are stark. Garda numbers have fallen, morale has deteriorated, and confidence, both within the organisation and among the public, has been eroded. This motion seeks not only to diagnose the problem but to set out a credible path towards rebuilding a modern, community-centred police service worthy of the trust placed in it. There is no doubt that the tenure of former Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, left deep scars across An Garda Síochána. Many gardaí will tell you quietly and privately that they felt targeted, undermined and treated with suspicion rather than respect. This week, Wexford-based retired superintendent Denis Whelan, one of the best, most effective and diligent gardaí I have ever encountered-----

Deputy Alan Kelly

Hear, hear.

Deputy George Lawlor

-----stated in a media interview that "a culture of fear" had been created within An Garda Síochána and that an environment had been created where "gardaí are working with one arm tied behind their back". This was from a brilliant now retired cop in his fifties. That is what the Harris era defined, with, it must be said, the acquiescence and forelock-tugging of a number of former Ministers for Justice from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Instead of leadership that inspired confidence, gardaí experienced leadership that bred resentment. Instead of support they felt surveillance. Instead of empowerment they felt intimidated. What was the result? A mass exodus of experience, early retirements, resignations, and a force that is haemorrhaging talent at the very moment communities are crying out for more gardaí on the streets, like my own town of Wexford. This is a legacy that many gardaí associate with that period of leadership and unless we confront it honestly we simply cannot begin to repair the damage.

The crisis does not end there. The influence of GSOC, now rebranded as Fiosrú, has cast a long shadow over front-line policing. Oversight is of course essential, as is accountability, but what we have now is very different. We have a system that many gardaí believe is weaponised against them, a system where even the most routine interaction can spiral into a multi-year ordeal and a system where a single complaint, no matter how trivial or unfounded, can hang over a garda's head like a noose. That produces fear and paralysis with gardaí second-guessing themselves at every turn, often afraid to intervene or act and afraid to do the very job we expect them to do for fear of sanction for the most minor of diversions. I have witnessed this first hand in Wexford.

Deputy Ged Nash

Policing by consent is a hallmark of how An Garda Síochána has operated in this State. That model is breaking down as visibility of gardaí on the ground thins out, resulting in a dangerous chasm between gardaí and the communities they are pledged to protect. On-the-ground policing builds trust and relationships and safer communities. Every Member of this House will testify that the number of cases crossing our desks every day reporting antisocial behaviour in communities across the country is on the rise. I suggest that to describe it as "antisocial behaviour" minimises it. It is mostly insidious criminal behaviour.

Like many public services under the watch of the governing parties, Garda numbers and resources have failed to keep pace with our growth in population and need to catch up. Fine Gael is as much the party of law and order as it is of fiscal responsibility. It is interesting the stories that parties tell themselves. The Government is falling short of its own commitments on this issue and has to do better if the link based on the principle of consent between our communities and the gardaí who police them is to be restored. The numbers are clear and are laid out in this motion. It is an objective fact that there are fewer serving members of An Garda Síochána today than there were six years ago. In the same period, the population of the country has increased. The Government is now running to stand still when it comes to Garda numbers. The programme for Government, if the Minister needs to be reminded, committed to recruiting at least 5,000 new Garda recruits and staff by 2030. Current trainee intake is far too low to achieve that aim. Only 619 recruits came out of Templemore in 2025 and almost half of Garda districts around the country have lost gardaí or stood still during 2025.

A locally embedded, well-resourced and modern policing service is of crucial importance in enabling communities to flourish. That model is under threat, as Deputy Kelly and others have said, like never before. It requires urgent action on behalf of the Government. There is no point outsourcing this to the Garda Commissioner or senior Garda staff. Leadership needs to be shown at governmental and ministerial level. In order to address recruitment shortfalls, improve morale and strengthen policing in our communities, we need a real plan to deliver at least 1,000 new Garda recruits every year. The current operational policing model, as colleagues have said, needs an urgent review. Where it is found to be undermining the principle of community policing instead of enhancing it, its implementation must be halted. The Labour Party, not today or yesterday, has long argued for an increase in the Garda training allowance. That must be delivered to aid recruitment. We recommend the allowance more or less matches the Garda starting salary. That is the kind of extent to which we need to go. For existing gardaí, we want to see a review of pay scales and pensions. Every Garda district in the country needs a clear timeline for increasing numbers to address community safety concerns and tackle the blight of insidious antisocial behaviour we are seeing across the country.

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"recognises:

— the crucial role played by An Garda Síochána in ensuring the security of the State, protecting and serving communities across Ireland through the maintenance of law and order, and upholding the principles of justice;

— the commencement of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, in April 2025, providing an extensive new framework for policing and community safety in Ireland, and the subsequent establishment of new bodies critical to the governance and delivery of policing services by An Garda Síochána;

— that Central Statistics Office data shows a decrease in the majority of offence groups in the year to September 2025, the latest period for which data is available;

— that, in particular, homicide and related offences fell by 25 per cent, reflecting, in particular, the significant success of An Garda Síochána in combatting organised crime groups;

— that robbery, extortion and hijacking offences fell by 13 per cent in the same period;

— that burglary and related offences fell by 12 per cent, reflecting the continued evidence-based success of Operation Thor by An Garda Síochána;

— the critical importance of a visible, locally embedded, well-resourced, modern police service in building stronger, safer communities, supporting community wellbeing and enabling them to flourish;

— that, through the promotion of crime prevention and visible policing, An Garda Síochána foster a sense of security, especially among the most vulnerable in our society;

— that our communities rely on the Gardaí to respond to emergency calls, patrol our neighbourhoods, prevent, detect and investigate crimes;

— that An Garda Síochána play an important role in the recently established Community Safety Partnerships, 35 of which are established and operational around the country;

— that overall funding for An Garda Síochána has increased by almost 50 per cent since 2020, with investment of over €2.74 billion for 2026;

— that through successive budget increases the Government has ensured that An Garda Síochána has the resources, leadership and technology to deliver on its mission;

— that a major capital plan is being implemented, including the construction of Divisional Headquarters in Clonmel and Macroom; and

— that €69 million has been allocated to further expand and modernise the Garda fleet over the next five years, which represents a 38 per cent increase on the allocation for the previous five years;

further recognises that:

— in line with Programme for Government commitments, the Garda Training Review Group is working to identify delivery options to increase the scale and capacity of high-quality education, training and continuous professional development in An Garda Síochána, and this will help ensure that the skills needs of the organisation are met over the next decade;

— the proportion of Garda resignations remains very low, with the resignation rate currently between 1 and 2 per cent;

— significant measures have been taken to boost recruitment and retention in recent years, including increasing the Garda trainee allowance to €354 per week, increasing the age of entry from 35 to 50, and raising the mandatory retirement age to 62;

— the vast majority of Gardaí serve with integrity and work tirelessly to keep our communities safe;

— the Garda Commissioner is committed to ensuring the highest levels of integrity are maintained across the organisation, and that there are robust procedures in place under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, to allow him to deal with any allegations of misconduct;

— the introduction of a modernised statutory disciplinary framework under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, will help to ensure more timely resolution of conduct proceedings and cases involving Garda suspensions;

— statutory Standards of Professional Behaviour and associated Conduct Regulations now provide clear mechanisms to examine allegations concerning the conduct of Garda members; and

— significant and sustained investment in equipment for Gardaí is delivering real benefits, including through the rollout of mobility devices to all frontline members, the rollout of body-worn cameras, the acquisition of two water cannons, the expansion of the fleet and the purchase of three new state-of-the-art aircraft;

welcomes that:

— there are 14,529 attested Gardaí serving with An Garda Síochána as of end February 2026, reflecting that Garda recruitment is now accelerating following the forced closure of the Garda College during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and subsequent alterations to training as the pandemic continued;

— this represents an increase of almost 1,500 Garda members since 2016;

— the overall Garda workforce has increased from 15,980 in 2016 to 18,276 in 2026;

— the Government has committed in the Programme for Government to funding the recruitment of 5,000 Gardaí and additional Garda staff by 2030;

— interest in a career in An Garda Síochána is high, with almost 11,000 applications to join the Service received in 2025;

— 223 Garda Trainees entered the Garda Training College in Templemore in November 2025, the largest single intake to the Garda College since 2014, and overall, 794 trainees entered the Garda College in 2025, the highest number since 2018;

— a further 215 Garda Trainees entered the Garda Training College in February 2026, with three further intakes planned across the remainder of the year;

— 194 Gardaí attested in November 2025, the highest number since 2019;

— the Government is committed to increasing the Garda Reserve with a recruitment competition planned for 2026, and further intakes planned this year; and

— the introduction of the Garda Operating Model, which makes Garda Divisions the central unit of policing administration, has provided for a more comprehensive and inclusive policing service and helped strengthen the focus on community policing, while also introducing increased local specialisation in the investigation of a range of crimes, including sexual crime, domestic violence, cyber-crime, and economic crime; and

notes the Government's commitment to:

— continue to invest in ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to keep people safe;

— support the Garda Commissioner in ensuring the wellbeing and job satisfaction of the members and staff of An Garda Síochána;

— continue to provide funding to recruit 5,000 new Gardaí over the next five years;

— modernise the statutory basis for certain Garda powers, through the enactment of the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026;

— further enhance the detection and investigation capabilities of An Garda Síochána, through the enactment of the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025, which builds on the Garda Síochána's ability to use body-worn cameras, enabled through the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023;

— continue to invest in additional measures to support the Garda College to increase capacity for up to 1,000 Garda Trainees per year, including those detailed in the An Garda Síochána Recruitment Training Capacity Group Report, published in September 2025; and

— continue to support the work being done by An Garda Síochána with international partners to deal with organised crime gangs and the related issue of drugs in our communities.".

I welcome the opportunity offered by the Labour Party motion and the Government countermotion to talk about the outstanding work carried out by members of An Garda Síochána and the extraordinary commitment they show on a daily basis. I commend them on the work they do to protect our communities and keep all of us safe. Since taking up office over a year ago, I have sought to ensure we can deliver a vibrant and strong policing service that is highly visible in our communities. I am committed to ensuring An Garda Síochána has the resources, technology and systems it needs to prevent crime and keep us safe. The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration is delivering a complex and effective programme of policy development, legislative change and the resources needed to deliver on those commitments in every county.

The criticism of An Garda Síochána by some Members of this House does not reflect the very positive view of the Garda held by the people of Ireland. The repeated references to Garda morale being low are not supported by evidence and ignore the vibrancy and success of the organisation, which the vast majority of its members are proud to serve in. The proof of this lies in the fact that the annual resignation rate within An Garda Síochána is approximately 1% or less of attested members. That is a low number by any standard and contrasts very favourably with figures in the broader public and private sector and particularly when compared to rates experienced in the PSNI, police services in the UK and police services in other jurisdictions. That over 11,000 people applied to be members of An Garda Síochána last year shows that being a garda is seen as an attractive career and a valuable way to give back to your community.

A hugely positive central role is played by members of An Garda Síochána in communities across the State. We have an admirable and long tradition of policing by consent in Ireland. That remains at the core of our policing service. It means that policing work here is done thanks to and because of the strong links that exist between gardaí and the communities they serve. People in Ireland recognise and value those links and the positive impact that An Garda Síochána has on people's day-to-day lives. The most recent public attitudes survey demonstrated that 88% of people who took part trust An Garda Síochána and 70% were satisfied with the service provided in their local communities.

Since becoming Minister, I have been enormously impressed by the senior leadership of An Garda Síochána. They have played a pivotal role in reforming our national police force while tackling organised crime with unprecedented results and dramatically reducing the incidents of burglaries across the state. The Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, which I commenced in April of last year, provides a modern legislative structure for a police service fit for the 21st century. I commend the work of Commissioner Justin Kelly and the senior leadership personnel in putting the organisation on such a strong footing. His dedication and professionalism in modernising the organisation means we have a policing service we can all be proud of. As Minister, I am happy to engage with Members of this House, with the Garda associations and with the Commissioner on measures that can be taken to improve our policing service. I value the important engagement I have had with the four Garda representative organisations. Commissioner Kelly has also engaged in a comprehensive manner with the organisations. I understand he will attend their annual conferences and will engage to resolve, as will I, any issues raised by their membership as best he can. The Government has set a high bar for An Garda Síochána in the programme for Government and is making ongoing strides along with the Commissioner and all his team to achieve the commitments.

On a daily basis, I see on our streets the commitment and dedication of the Garda and the work undertaken to keep us safe. Over the past decade, gardaí have made over 1,000 arrests for organised crime offences. Many of these individuals have been prosecuted and convicted and are now off our streets. Last year, there were no gangland gun murders in Ireland for the first time in over three decades. This is not due to good fortune; it is due to the dedicated work of the Garda in making our country safer. It has done an excellent job in ensuring that the presence of guns in Ireland is very low. Over the same period, Operation Thor was introduced with the aim of detecting and preventing incidents of burglary and associated criminal activity. This operation has delivered a truly remarkable drop in the number of residential burglaries of approximately 75%, particularly during the winter months. This initiative continues to have a positive impact on the reduction of property crime in Ireland.

A more recent development I would like to highlight is the introduction of the high-visibility policing plans first in Dublin and latterly in Cork and Limerick. I acknowledge the comments of colleagues from the Labour Party who recognise the presence of high-visibility policing. When I listen to people all over the country, what I hear most is that people want to see more gardaí on our streets where they are most needed. This Government is committed to delivering on the commitment to see more gardaí on our streets. There is a high-visibility policing plan in Dublin city centre. It will be rolled out throughout the country. During the first six months of the roll-out in Dublin, there were increased proactive policing detections for a range of offences, including public order offences, drunkenness and drugs for sale or supply. Arrests, charges and summonses have considerably increased. At the same time, thefts and robberies have decreased. The Government and the Garda have demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach. It is now being extended to Cork and Limerick and will be extended to other parts of the country as well.

We all agree we need a larger Garda organisation. That is why the Government is committed to recruiting at least 5,000 new Garda recruits by 2030.

I have stated numerous times that supporting the Garda is my number one priority.

At the end of February this year, there were 14,529 attested gardaí. More broadly, the overall Garda workforce has increased from 15,980 in 2016 to 18,276 in 2026. Some 2,287 people have entered the Garda college since it reopened in 2022 after the pandemic. Just under 800 trainees entered the Garda college in 2025, the highest number since 2018. In the first intake of this year, 215 recruits entered Templemore. This is the third intake in a row with over 200 recruits. This is making a difference.

As more gardaí are trained and the organisation grows, Garda management will have greater resources to increase the numbers allocated to specialist units. While the training college in Templemore will always be the primary centre for training gardaí, we can all acknowledge its capacity limitations and that is why work is under way to increase capacity in the short term with the support of the Office of Public Works, OPW. It is anticipated that additional capacity will become available this year, providing capacity for a total of 500 Garda trainees on site. While much of our focus is on the work of the Garda, we must remember that ensuring people are safe and feel safe requires a broader response. That is apparent in terms of the local community policing partnerships that have been rolled out.

There has been public discourse regarding Garda discipline and suspensions, something that has been raised by colleagues from the Labour Party, and I want to address this. I must be mindful, of course, that some matters have been before the courts and that internal Garda discipline comes under the remit of the Commissioner. Therefore, I will not comment on individual matters. It is critical to acknowledge that the vast majority of gardaí serve with integrity and do their duty with commitment and dedication. Public confidence in An Garda Síochána depends on gardaí demonstrating the highest level of personal and professional standards of behaviour. At the end of January, there were 101 members of the Garda on suspension. That represents just 0.6% of the total number of Garda members in the State.

I will also stress that a suspension from duty is not a finding of guilt or wrongdoing. Suspension is a step in the process; it is not the final judgment. It is a mechanism to ensure public confidence in the police service while any allegations are investigated. There are robust procedures in place to allow the Commissioner to deal with any allegations of misconduct in a proper manner and I brought forward regulations last April to give effect to that. There are now separate regulations for dealing with misconduct, as opposed to performance. We have also streamlined investigations for Fiosrú.

However, the criminal justice system and the law apply to everyone. Wearing a Garda uniform does not grant anyone immunity from proper scrutiny, investigation or prosecution. Equally, the fact a person who may be accused of a criminal offence is a member of the Garda is not, in and of itself, a finding of guilt. Our system operates on the presumption of innocence and that applies to everyone, be they a member of the public or or a member of the Garda. Anyone who is brought before the courts has a right to defend themselves and their reputation. That is the system operating in the proper independent manner. It is not open to me as Minister to intervene in investigations or the deliberations of the DPP and certainly not in the operation of the courts. Our system is designed to be a set of independent yet interlinked bodies with defined roles and responsibilities so that political intervention or interference in the administration of justice cannot occur.

Calls for independent inquiries for every single court case brought against gardaí cannot become the norm, in particular in cases where the accused has been subject to prosecution, has had access to a defence and has been acquitted by a jury of their peers. In particular, it cannot be the norm in a system like that which we are lucky to enjoy and in which I am proud to serve, where the administration of justice is conducted openly and transparently.

We are rightly proud of the relationship the Garda has with the public in this country and we need to maintain that. That trust has taken many years to build up and I will not allow it to be damaged. I want to ensure that An Garda Síochána goes from success to success.

Deputy Ivana Bacik

I commend Deputy Kelly on this Labour Party motion. I believe it is the first on policing in the lifetime of this Dáil. It reflects our long-standing interest in criminal justice, including my personal interest in criminal justice, and our concern to ensure a robust policing system for our country. I want to pay tribute, as did the Minister, to the vital work of gardaí across our communities and the country and in my constituency and that of the Minister. I welcome the high-visibility policing plan in Dublin city centre, which has made an enormous difference.

However, the Government's countermotion is deeply disappointing because it fails to acknowledge the reality, which is that serious structural issues in An Garda Síochána need addressing. Instead of massaging the numbers upwards, as the Minister has done, and providing such a poor response with barely any mention of domestic violence, community policing or the drastic failure to increase roads policing, the Minister has given us a somewhat idealistic countermotion that does not address the serious omissions.

As the Minister knows, communities across the country are crying out for higher visibility community policing. Community policing needs serious investment. We need to ensure that community gardaí are not relegated but are instead seen as vital to the task of policing across the country.

On domestic violence, our motion calls for a clear timeline for the roll-out of domestic violence co-ordination teams across every region. We know there is an epidemic of violence against women at present. We see how many murders are linked to domestic violence, yet Women's Aid has found that nearly half of women who go to the Garda for help in domestic violence situations find the response unhelpful. That is deeply concerning.

I have submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister to establish the number of complaints made to Fiosrú since the establishment of a new unit to tackle complaints against gardaí regarding allegations of sexual and domestic abuse. I have not seen any reporting in the annual reports of GSOC or Fiosrú on this. I would welcome a response. We have the courageous example of Margaret Loftus, who came forward to describe her experience of how gardaí closed ranks against her when she made allegations, which were absolutely justified, that her garda partner had been violent towards her. This shows the systemic problems in An Garda Síochána.

This is the sort of example the Minister needs to take seriously in seeking to rebuild trust among communities in the Garda in respect of domestic violence, community policing, road safety and so much more. Our motion seeks to present to the Government constructive solutions to tackle those systemic issues and ensure that trust is rebuilt in communities and that An Garda Síochána can operate effectively and with community buy-in. I urge the Minister not to oppose our motion.

Deputy Ciarán Ahern

Tá an Teachta Kelly ar dhuine de na cosantóirí is mó ar son na ngardaí sa Dáil. Tá muid go léir i bPáirtí an Lucht Oibre ag iarraidh feabhas a chur ar choinníollacha oibre na ngardaí agus cur ar a gcumas an pobal a choinneáil slán.

I will focus my remarks on the area of roads policing. As the Minister knows, 190 lives were lost on Irish roads last year, the highest number in over a decade. Thirty-nine people have been killed on our roads so far this year, seven more this time last year. We are going backwards when it comes to road safety. Is it any wonder when the Government has failed to properly resource our primary enforcement mechanism of the rules of the road, namely, the Garda traffic corps? Bad driver behaviour will not change until the rules of the road are relentlessly enforced. It is like the wild west on our roads at times. There is speeding, red-light running, driver distraction from the massive iPad displays in cars or mobile phones, texting, watching Netflix on the M50 or recording Snapchats or voice notes while driving. I ask the Minister to look at the Bad Drivers Ireland account on TikTok, which will scare the bejesus out of him and give him a sense of the lunatics out there on our roads putting lives at risk with their recklessness. They will keep doing it unless they think there is some chance they will be caught.

The Garda is essentially hamstrung on this. We have a road safety strategy, but we have seen next to no urgency in increasing the resources available to gardaí in terms of people power and the tools at their disposal such as traffic cameras. We have only nine static speed cameras in the country, three average-speed cameras and one red-light camera at Merrion Gates. In terms of numbers of traffic gardaí, before the recession we had a force of about 1,300 gardaí policing our roads, which was then absolutely decimated and cut in half to just 623 in 2018. There are now about 500,000 more cars on the roads than when the cuts were made.

As noted in the motion, the then Garda Commissioner told the transport committee that over the course of 2024 and 2025, 150 new gardaí would be allocated to the roads policing division. What was actually delivered falls far short of this. At the end of 2023, there were 632 gardaí in the traffic corps and at the end of 2025 there were 647, a net increase of just 15. In other words, it was 10% of what was promised. We need to get a grip on this. We need urgent investment in the Garda roads policing division to bring the numbers up and enforce the rules of the road.

We can talk all we like about road safety strategies, speed limits and penalty points, and they are of course necessary measures, but unless the rules of the road can be vigorously enforced, nothing will change. We will continue to see driver behaviour deteriorate and more and more people will be killed and seriously injured on our roads. We need to see greater investment in the Garda and investment into the traffic corps cannot be treated as an optional extra. It can quite literally be a matter of life and death.

While we talk about high-visibility policing, it is great to see it. However, I cannot help noticing as I cycle into the Dáil every morning that I see lots of high-visibility gardaí in the Minister's constituency, but I get reports from my constituents and people all over Dublin that the same visibility is not elsewhere. While we support the measure, we would like to see it somewhere outside of Dublin Bay South as well.

Deputy Mark Wall

I welcome students from the National Learning Network in my home town of Athy who have joined us for this very important debate. I also thank Deputy Kelly for all of his work in this area.

I join with the Minister in thanking all of our serving Garda members for the job they do on behalf of all of us day in and day out, 24-7. It is most welcome and the Labour Party, in particular, wants to welcome and thank them, as the Minister has done. Unfortunately, however, morale among gardaí is as low as I have ever seen it and as low as many serving Garda members have seen it for a very long time. This is directly related to the recruitment of gardaí.

In my own constituency of Kildare South, the number of gardaí has remained the same since 2020 despite repeated PR attempts to convey a different story. Currently, there are 147 gardaí across the Kildare division in Athy, Castledermot, Kildare town, Monasterevin, Newbridge and Rathangan. Since 2020, the number of gardaí in Kildare town has decreased by one, Athy remains unchanged at 34 and Newbridge has only increased by one. The overall figure across all stations in County Kildare is still 147. This is in addition to 37 retirements across the Kildare-Carlow division from 2021 to 2025. More worryingly, in recent months community policing across the Kildare-Carlow division decreased from 31 in May 2025 to only 21 in December 2025. Kildare is a county that has had a population increase to 250,000 and the lack of Garda visibility in that county is creating serious problems in our large towns and our villages. I welcome the fact the Minister is concentrating on visibility. It is the key to Garda policing and community policing into the future but it needs to be sped up and include the counties that border Dublin. That needs to happen very quickly.

I also want to mention roads policing. In December 2025 we had 647 gardaí in our roads policing division, compared with 1,046 in 2009. The reason I bring that up, and not for the first time, is the traffic and commuter chaos that happens every morning on the way into the capital and the lack of visibility of gardaí on those stretches of road is very worrying. I have spoken to gardaí in County Kildare on this matter over the past six months and they all tell me that once an accident happens, their personnel are tied up for hours on end. This is happening almost every day, so we need to see an increase in Garda numbers in our roads policing division. We need to see visibility on our commuter routes into Dublin each morning.

I also support the calls regarding domestic violence. In 20 years of public service, in my office, I have never before seen such worrying growth in domestic violence on a daily basis. We need to do more.

Deputy Matt Carthy

I commend the Labour Party on bringing forward this motion and Deputy Kelly on his persistent work in this area. It has been more than a year since the Minister took office so this motion is a timely opportunity to assess the progress that has actually been made on Garda numbers in the time since. Last year, as the Minister alluded to, there were two high-profile and much-lauded Garda recruitment campaigns. There were 11,000 applications to join the force. That is a very positive story. However, looking at the output, 619 gardaí were actually attested last year. That raises serious questions around the ability to meet the targets of 5,000 new gardaí over the term of the Government or the fact that interest in joining the Garda is not translating into increased numbers. The truth is that no new or innovative measures have been taken since the Minister took office that would increase the number of trainees or encourage existing members to remain. We have had nothing in terms of the Garda allowance or pay progression. Nothing has been done, for example, to encourage those gardaí who have left the force to rejoin. In fact, many of those who have sought to rejoin have found it incredibly difficult to do so.

Last autumn, I produced a series of proposals from Sinn Féin that included things like increasing the Garda training allowance to the equivalent of the minimum wage, increasing the maximum capacity per intake at the Garda training college, introducing a return-to-policing grant to incentivise those who have left the force to rejoin, removing points on the Garda pay scale so that gardaí can progress faster on it, introducing an annual long-service payment and increasing the mandatory retirement age to 65. Each and every one of those proposals could have made an impact but none has been taken on board.

This is important because the issue of Garda numbers is not an abstract debate. All of us are aware of situations of unmanned Garda stations or stations that are open for minimal hours. We are all aware of the lack of Garda visibility in many of our communities and on our streets. Those of us who are at the coalface of communities are very much aware of the lack of community gardaí to build relationships with young people and deal with diversion from crime. We are very well aware of the fact we do not have enough roads policing gardaí to ensure safety on our roads. We are all very well aware of the over-dependence on overtime to carry out routine police work. I have spoken to the Minister on a number of occasions about how we are coming into a period in the second half of this year when, in my view, the Garda will be overstretched with big events such as those following from the EU Presidency and so on. In the past, gardaí have been pulled from communities into Dublin city centre for those large-scale events. When we have quite a number of them taking place, I have a genuine fear, which has not been addressed, that we will see under-policing in many of our communities.

We need more gardaí but we also need those gardaí to be trained and held to the highest professional standards. We need to look at how we train, educate and pay gardaí if we want to ensure we have the best police service possible. We need to ensure gardaí have access to education and training on an ongoing basis, given the complexities of new laws and technology they are expected to deal with. The public has to have confidence in the governance and management of An Garda Síochána and that requires fully addressing the number of gardaí who are working on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence as well as ensuring the organisation responds to such cases properly. We need to listen to people like Margaret Loftus, a former garda herself, and address how gardaí are handling or sometimes mishandling internal complaints and allegations of criminality and how members who challenge wrongdoing within the organisation are treated. We have seen in the Garda, as elsewhere, that protecting whistleblowers is not always considered a priority.

We want to ensure gardaí are held to the highest standards and that internal Garda investigations are fair and transparent. We want to have a police service that has the confidence of our communities. I commend and thank the gardaí in my constituency on their ongoing work under very difficult circumstances because the truth of the matter is that, just as in every other constituency, there are not enough of them.

Deputy Mark Ward

I thank Deputy Kelly for bringing forward this motion. I listened to him on the radio this morning when I was on my way in and I was in full agreement with him that the further you move away from Leinster House, the fewer gardaí you will see.

High-visibility policing is effective. I have noticed an increase in the visibility of gardaí on the beat in Dublin city and that is to be welcomed. However, as you move out from the city, you do not see anywhere near the same numbers of gardaí on the streets. When you get to areas like mine in Dublin Mid-West, that visibility is even less.

In fact, in Dublin metropolitan region west, which covers Clondalkin, Lucan, Ronanstown and Rathcoole Garda stations, there are fewer gardaí today than there were in 2024. That is despite a huge increase in population in the area, with the building of Clonburris and the Adamstown strategic development zone. On 31 December 2024, there were 754 gardaí assigned to my area. As of February 2026, last month, that had dropped to 742. Therefore, despite the Minister's rhetoric that he was to increase Garda numbers, the reality is that in areas like mine, things are going backwards. There has actually been a reduction.

The public knows that the high visibility of gardaí in areas works to deter and detect criminal activity. So-called antisocial behaviour, which is the bane of many a community, decreases simply by having a Garda presence in an area. I will give an example of how effective it can be. Last year, I was inundated by residents from a particular part of my constituency contacting me. They feared for their safety and that of their children. The area was under siege. Gangs had repeatedly committed violent acts of intimidation and had done criminal damage. I received countless emails and phone calls and many people visited my constituency office in fear. Residents told me they were receiving death threats. They were crying out for additional Garda resources. At the time, I raised this directly with the Minister and the Garda Commissioner, and I raised it at the justice committee. Because of the pressure put on me by members of my community, the superintendent was able to allocate a four-garda team for the area. It was like someone had turned off a switch. Overnight I stopped getting as many phone calls to my office. Residents were able to get on with their lives, start living in safety again and breathe.

I know this does not address the underlying issues that cause all this behaviour in the first place, but it allowed my community to get on with daily life. I thank the Garda, including the superintendent, and most of all the members of my community who contacted me about this matter.

The four-garda team was just a temporary measure, however. The gardaí are due to be redeployed very soon for another operation, so I imagine I will be contacting the Minister again and calling for the retention of the team in the area.

Deputy Darren O'Rourke

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and again raise the fact that County Meath has the lowest number of gardaí per population in the State. This is the case by a long way and has been the case for years. As a direct result, community safety in Meath is being sacrificed. In recent days alone, I could point to a spate of burglaries in Kells, car break-ins elsewhere and constituents being turned away from their local Garda station in Ashbourne, unable to make a statement because the station does not enough members. These are not just statistics; they are breaches of the basic contract between the State and its citizens.

This Government's failure has direct consequences. How can communities feel safe when their local station's long-term future is in doubt, like in Kells, or where it barely opens, like in Dunshaughlin, Dunboyne, Duleek and Laytown?

In early 2022, the then Minister for Justice, Deputy Helen McEntee, promised a new Garda station for Laytown. The problem is that she did not say which decade it would be delivered in. The latest indication from the current Minister's Department is that it will not be this one anyway. This would be laughable if it were not so serious. It is not a laugh; it is a disgrace.

Garda numbers are lower now than in 2020. With population growth, we have 10% fewer gardaí per capita than five years ago. The Government can no longer ignore this.

I welcome this motion. In addition, Sinn Féin has published a comprehensive plan to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in An Garda Síochána. The Government should heed both. Community safety cannot wait any longer.

Deputy Mairéad Farrell

Tá fadhb leanúnach sna ceantair Ghaeltachta maidir le gardaí agus a gcumas Gaeilge. Dúirt an Coimisinéir Teanga nach bhfuil ach duine as gach triúr garda in ann Gaeilge a labhairt. Is fadhb ollmhór é sin i gceantair Ghaeltachta. Ag an am céanna, áfach, tá gardaí le Gaeilge i gceantair éagsúla atá sásta agus ag iarraidh bogadh chuig na ceantair Ghaeltachta sin, áit ar féidir leo clanna a thógáil trí Ghaeilge sa Ghaeltacht, ach níl siad in ann é sin a dhéanamh. Más rud é go bhfuil muid dáiríre faoi ghardaí sa Ghaeltacht, caithfear a chinntiú go bhfuil Gaeilge acu ionas go mbeidh siad in ann déileáil le daoine ina dteanga féin. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach go mbreathnófar air seo le teacht suas leis an mbealach ar féidir níos mó daoine le Gaeilge a earcú, chomh maith le héascaíocht a dhéanamh ar ghardaí reatha a bhfuil Gaeilge acu bogadh chun na Gaeltachta.

It is important that we ensure there are gardaí who speak Irish in Gaeltacht areas. We know that only one in three gardaí in Gaeltacht areas can speak Irish. An Coimisinéir Teanga found that An Garda Síochána is in breach of its own legal obligations as a result of that. It is incredibly important that people be able to speak to gardaí in their own language. It is about building trust and confidence.

Community gardaí play an incredible and important role in Galway, but in the last year we have seen an increase of only one community garda in the area. We need to increase the number. There are many instances where the local community garda will know exactly what is going on in an area before anybody else. Community gardaí have knowledge of the people, communities and issues, and they need to be assisted by there being more of them in order that they can fulfil their role.

Deputy Ann Graves

I acknowledge the work done by serving members of An Garda Síochána, particularly community gardaí, who do their jobs under very difficult circumstances.

Tackling the causes and consequences of crime is not just about law and order and it cannot be left entirely to gardaí. It is about having sufficient Garda numbers, adequately resourced, to work within the communities they serve.

Community safety requires whole-of-government responsibility and an inter-agency approach. Gardaí have to battle not only against crime but also for better pay and conditions. Starting pay is less than €40,000. Gardaí are competing in a housing market that is pricing new recruits out of Dublin and indeed most areas, all while working in conditions that are simply not good enough.

In my constituency, Dublin Fingal East, Swords needs a new Garda station that is fit for purpose. The existing station was built to serve what was then a village. It is now serving a population of over 41,000 and growing. The Minister is aware of this because I met him to speak to him about it in October of last year. The station serves Swords, Donabate, Portmarnock and most of Dublin Fingal East. The gardaí provide the best service they can with limited resources, but the station is simply not fit for purpose. There have been planned upgrades since 2005 and the public and the gardaí deserve better. We deserve a new, fully functional Garda station that meets the needs of the community, with its growing population, and satellite stations to serve the other growing towns served by Swords.

Swords is currently part of a large district with headquarters in Coolock. The area includes Coolock, Malahide, Swords, Donabate and Rolestown, and the area all the way out to Coolquay. With the ever-growing population, future policing in the area requires the creation of a new Garda district with Swords as its centre point.

The Minister has agreed to visit Swords station and see for himself the conditions that the gardaí are working in. I again extend my invitation.

Deputy Sorca Clarke

My constituency is split across two separate Garda divisions. If I look at the numbers on a spreadsheet, I can tell the House that the number of gardaí in Meath–Westmeath is 551. That area is 4,200 sq. km. Roscommon–Longford has 581 gardaí and that area is over 9,000 sq. km. I do not need a spreadsheet to tell me that we do not have enough gardaí in our towns, villages and rural communities. I will give a very good example. There was recently a meeting in Rochfortbridge, Westmeath, on road safety and roads policing. The garda who attended, a very dedicated garda heading the traffic corps, came from Navan, which is 50 km away. What does that say to the people of Rochfortbridge? What does it say to the people of a very small rural community if the head of the traffic corps has to travel 50 km from a major town to their little rural village? It says their concerns are not being heeded and will always be of lower priority than those of other areas. That is incredibly unfair.

It is also incredibly unfair for the people living in Longford, who, when they call the Garda station to get a response to an incident, are told the gardaí cannot go out because they cannot leave the station unstaffed. That is not a functioning Garda model; that is a broken Garda model. It is also very unfair on our gardaí. Mullingar gardaí secured the first conviction for human trafficking in this State. That did not come about by chance. That came about through dedication, good policing and an absolute determination to see that to the end. This needs to be fixed. Sinn Féin has put forward proposal after proposal but the Minister needs to act on them because my constituents deserve better.

Deputy Paul Donnelly

There is not a community that believes the Minister has a handle on the policing issues that they face every single day. I commend the gardaí in Dublin 15. They work hard under huge pressure. I hear from them all of the time that they are under-resourced in terms of equipment, but also in terms of back-up. Can the Minister imagine how the general population feels? Last Sunday, I was sent a picture of our local park by local residents. About a dozen people were hanging around the place. There were six to eight scramblers flying around the park. Millions of euro have been spent on that park, yet a lot of people fear that they cannot use it if this issue is not dealt with. Work has been done on scramblers, which I acknowledge. The problem is there is very little enforcement because An Garda does not have the resources. It does not have the numbers. The Minister has failed every year to reach the target. Even today, he parrots the line about more gardaí on the streets. People just do not see them.

I will give him an example. Bizarrely, recruits are coming out of their nine-month or two-year long training unable to drive cars with the blue lights on. They can march, because I have been down there and have seen it as part of the passing out of a relative. They can march. They spend hours practising how to march, yet they come out of there not being able to drive cars with the blue lights on. That is absolutely ludicrous. They are taunted on a daily basis by people on scramblers, yet they do not have the resources to be able to address them. I have raised time and again the resources in Britain are used for a dedicated anti-scrambler unit. The Minister needs to ensure that it is resourced and that the legislation is in place to enforce what we need to see on the ground, which is people tackling this. The buck stops with the Minister. People want to see action.

Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú

I agree with Deputy Donnelly. There was a recent incident in Dundalk where an eight-year-old was stopped on an e-scooter. Gardaí have told me about the particular issues that they have that they are not sufficiently resourced to deal with this issue, which is causing danger, not only for those who engage in dangerous behaviour on e-scooters and scramblers but also for those whom they interact with. We need to see not only guidelines and legislation; we need to make sure that An Garda is given the powers that are required. It goes without saying that high-visibility garda operations can make a huge difference in preventing crime. I commend the community gardaí whom I have interacted with, particularly in Dundalk. The late night leagues with the youth diversion programmes have been running on a Thursday night for the past number of weeks. They are successful. It is about building relationships with kids and hopefully engaging with them from a point of view of ensuring that they can find that better road map themselves for their life.

I also commend the gardaí who with me have met those on Barrack Street who are very worried about the ongoing destruction of property, anti-community action and open drug dealing. There is a Dublin Simon Community facility that probably has bad legacy issues. It is all about those powers that are needed. There is planning permission for 21 units there. Louth County Council would have to make some promises in relation to allocations, but a huge body of work needs to be done. From my discussions with Dublin Simon Community, it is hopefully up for it. It is between it, Louth County Council and An Garda. It is making sure that would happen.

I was contacted by a long-serving member of the Garda Reserve. He had a number of asks relating to the absence of formal recognition of the 20th anniversary of the Garda Reserve, which needs to be dealt, consideration of a long-serving medal for Reserve members and progress on enabling greater operational responsibility for experienced reservists. We need more gardaí but we should also deal with the issue of the reserve.

Deputy Gary Gannon

The Minister's opening statement started off in a way that was almost expected. He acknowledged the outstanding work of An Garda Síochána and phrased it in a way that somehow what everybody else was about to say was somehow challenging An Garda Síochána, as opposed to challenging his Department, his policies and his responsibility. Across this House, all contributors have said that An Garda Síochána does incredible work, but that work is being impacted and made more difficult by the policies, resourcing and the inability to listen to those on the ground whom we ask to serve. That is the Minister's and his Department's failure. My contribution will be aimed towards his Department, not any individual member. I acknowledge Deputy Kelly and the Labour Party for bringing forward the motion and the diligence that Deputy Kelly has brought to the committee.

This morning, the Irish Penal Reform Trust published a report that every Member should read before they speak, especially the Minister. It found that children are being drawn into criminality from the age of six - not 16, not 12, but six years of age. When the Minister opened the debate by talking about the fact that we have not had a gangland murder in whatever length of time, of course that is welcome. I know what it feels like when bullets make loud noises that everybody responds to. When a child is groomed into criminality through physical or sexual exploitation and that child has to become a runner of drugs or stand on a corner, it is very difficult to convey the extent to which that is so insidious in so many communities because gangland crime has adjusted. Gangland criminals have learned that the resourcing of the State will come when noise is made.

There has been a transformation on the streets. That transformation is being felt in the destruction and annihilation of a child's life. The manifestations of that are felt in parks, for example, in many constituencies. In my constituency, the Diamond Park off Gardiner Street is about a three-minute walk from O'Connell Street. Such is the extent to which criminality has taken hold in that park, dealers are using a saw to cut the slides because they do not want children and families in there given that is one of the places where they like to be able to sell their drugs. That is what happening. It is happening in Diamond Park and in Liberty Park. It is not only happening in parks in the inner city, it is also happening in St. Anne's Park and the length and breadth of Dublin city. That is happening without any degree of Garda presence or intervention. It is so insidious. These are the tactics - shut down public resources and squares so they cannot be used so that gangland figures who are exploiting young people into crime could take advantage of them. There is not a concerted effort on the Minister's part to tackle it, combat it and get in front of this.

I often talk about where his priorities lie. For example, last September, the State flew 79 gardaí on a deportation flight that had 24 people on it. Is there a Member who would not like to see 79 gardaí somewhere in their constituencies at any one point? No, the Minister's priorities were for that at a cost of €500,000 to the State, excluding Garda overtime, at the same time that police stations are lying empty, community parks are being closed and children as young as six are being groomed into criminality. Where is the focus? We have seen deaths of children from arson attacks and I have not seen an appropriate response. The Minister spoke about a high-visibility plan for Dublin city. I walk down O'Connell Street every morning, including today and at night. I did not see a single garda there. There is a pernicious, insidious level of criminality and exploitation of children in this country and the Minister is not in front of it.

Deputy Jen Cummins

I thank Labour for bringing forward the motion. Over the past number of weeks, community safety fora meetings have been happening in Dublin South-Central. It has been very interesting to see, over the number of years I have been attending, the waning of Garda numbers. At the moment, however, we are on a high where people are saying there is higher visibility in Dublin South-Central for gardaí, particularly in the Crumlin area, where there is a concerted effort for gardaí to be present there. This is highly welcome.

That is not withstanding what I hear from residents and gardaí themselves at those safety forum meetings that sometimes there are challenges for the gardaí in doing their job - that there are not enough numbers and they are not able to respond to phone calls because there is not enough of them. With the level of need in Dublin South-Central – an urban area with great disadvantage where there is a huge level of crime in some instances with domestic violence in particular having increased since Covid-19 – we have seen gardaí are not able to respond as they would like. They do not have the numbers.

I have been to visit schools which have asked me what is happening around e-scooters. Gardaí need real clarity on that law and it needs to be hurried up. They are ruining parks and communities in the area. It is dangerous. Older people and people with disabilities are particularly nervous about e-scooters.

I want to commend the gardaí on the work they are doing in schools and youth services. When I have a public meeting, they turn up. They really are doing their best. As Deputy Gannon said, when we see young people being groomed into crime, when there is a good relationship with the gardaí that can help to offset that. The difficulty is that Fagan’s law is there but nobody is being prosecuted under it. As far as I know, there has only been three prosecutions in the past while. That is not good enough because we know it is happening and it needs to stop.

Deputy Eoin Hayes

As the Minister said, we are lucky to live in a country where our police force, An Garda Síochána, is lauded by the vast majority of society. I want to pay particular tribute to the excellent gardaí in our constituency of Dublin Bay South and here in Leinster House and, in particular, to the incredible work of community gardaí which I see first hand in my work as a constituency TD. They do great work with vulnerable youths. I want to state my very strong support for increased resources in this area. However, the number of community gardaí fell in 2025 by about 12%, as the Labour Party motion states. Alarmingly many constituents report to me they do not know who their community garda is anymore. Community gardaí play a critical role in the development of communities and preventing criminality, particularly among youth as young as six, and it is of upmost importance that they are supported at every turn and resources are allocated to them.

I met a detective in our constituency recently who felt as if there was no support for his work in regard to resources or pay and conditions. He also lamented the lack of public understanding about the importance of good policing and the effects it has on those who fulfil a vital role in protecting society. These things also contribute to morale which I am sure the Minister will agree is a huge concern for gardaí. In the Garda, and across the public sector, many new entrants are at extreme disadvantage to their older counterparts when it comes to pensions. The superintendent in my constituency described how her pension package was far in excess to what was available to the community garda across the table from here. That kind of unfairness breeds dissatisfaction among the rank and file and must be remedied if we are to attract high-calibre people to serve the public not just in the Garda but across the public sector. I hope the Minister takes all these things as matters of the upmost importance to his colleagues in the Government.

Deputy Rory Hearne

I represent the constituency of Dublin North-West. The communities of Finglas and Ballymun have some of the highest deprivation in this country. The Minister has been out to visit us in Ballymun. I was at a community safety meeting in Ballymun just two weeks ago where members of the community outlined how there are primary school children walking to school past drug dealing. There is open drug dealing going on outside a school while children are walking to school. These children are not safe. These communities are not safe. It is the Minister’s responsibility and that of this Government to ensure that children can walk to primary school without having to pass open drug dealing. Those communities are not safe and they do not feel safe. People cannot go to the shops.

What is the core of the issue? It is inequality and entrenched deprivation and neglect. To tackle it now we need community policing. We need increased levels of community policing and visible gardaí. The community says that as soon as gardaí are visible, standing there, the drug dealing moves off somewhere else. There is not enough policing there or community gardaí. We need it.

The Irish Times today has a report showing that children as young as six are being groomed into drug dealing. I know it is happening – it is happening in my own community, in the inner city and in communities across this country. It is not acceptable. I know the Minister does not think it is acceptable but what is he going to do about it? Is he going to ensure that communities that are suffering deprivation like Finglas or Ballymun are as safe as anywhere else? Those children have a right and a need to be safe. If that was in Foxrock, does the Minister think walking past open drug dealing to get to a primary school would be allowed? It would not be tolerated for a second and we should not tolerate it anywhere.

Deputy Ruth Coppinger

I welcome this debate. I want to speak in particular on the aspect of the motion on low morale, internal investigations in An Garda Síochána and how people who make disclosures or whistleblowers end up being the ones whose careers suffer. They often end up out sick, being bullied or shunned within An Garda Síochána for speaking out. I would also like the Minister to clarify whether the Fiosrú investigation he established into gender-based violence within An Garda Síochána will cover sexual harassment.

I spoke to a currently serving garda who made a complaint about sexual harassment and it is being mishandled. It began when Carol – I will not use her real name – reported sexual harassment by a male sergeant. Carol was on duty in the Dublin morgue minding a dead body when her senior male sergeant came in and behaved in a sexually inappropriate manner. He propositioned her and sat on the sofa, right next to her, spread his legs out and made comments to the effect that he could tell people now that he had slept with her. He basically made it clear he wanted to engage in sexual activity. Any woman listening to this will understand the absolute fear of being alone in a room with somebody like that where they are also blocking the exit. He also picked up her phone and started sending her messages. That meant she did not have access to her phone if she needed help. Carol managed to get out of that room and waited about an hour and a half for him to leave. She did not make a complaint initially but she did speak informally to a sergeant, so that she might not have to work with that person. She well understood that women who make complaints often lose out. We all know that.

The complaint was completely mishandled. Confidentiality in the Garda’s own procedures was breached. This is something the Minister should be very concerned about. The person Carol confided in spoke to the accused person and a whole load of other people in the station unbeknownst to the victim of the sexual harassment. That is absolutely outrageous conduct in a safeguarding process. Eventually Carol was shunned and bullied for making that complaint. The sergeant who engaged in this harassment did plead guilty after 22 months only minutes before Carol was to give her evidence thus depriving her of giving her testimony. He was fined, she thinks, about two weeks wages. He is back working as a sergeant supervising young female probationers and sitting in cars with them. It is Carol, the woman complainant, who is out sick whose career has suffered. She said that she destroyed her career and life the day she reported the wrong-doing. She followed the procedures. An Garda Síochána did not. Like Margaret Loftus, she said, her reputation and credibility were destroyed.

There is a deep culture of sexism within An Garda Síochána which the Minister should be very concerned about. I spoke to Carol about this in depth. Carol told me about other women who were afraid of this sergeant and other incidents with him but no woman is going to make a complaint since he is back in action with no repercussions. She also told me about comments that she had been told of comments that were being made in stations about Margaret Loftus. They are absolutely sickening sexist comments.

Boasts were made by a garda about beating his wife with a frying pan. This kind of sexism means that gardaí who are meant to deal with gender-based violence are at the coalface. The first person any woman or any victim, be they male or female, but it is more so women, or a child, is going to come into contact with is probably a garda. If they have these attitudes, how can people feel safe? Are women safe within An Garda Síochána? Somebody like Carol who is a long serving garda with an excellent record and loved her job but is now being edged out.

The other issue relates to the Workplace Relations Commission. This applies in general. The Garda breached the procedures in this case. The WRC said that was okay. What is the point in having procedures then? The WRC is where people go. Why is sexual harassment not a criminal offence? It is not taken seriously at all. Sexual harassment is a marker for much more serious violence that will happen. If the case of Gisèle Pelicot in France, her husband was initially found out on a much less serious charge of upskirting as it is called. We should take sexual harassment very seriously.

I do not know what the Minister would say to somebody like Carol. She is still serving within the Garda. Obviously, she is out sick. She is being bullied and shunned by other gardaí because she reported somebody who is claiming that they were completely innocent and that she fabricated it. I imagine we want to keep women within the Garda to have a diverse police service in this country. I would love the Minister to look into how An Garda Síochána are handling sexual harassment complaints. I would like him to confirm that he will include it in the new Fiosrú investigative team.

Deputy Ken O'Flynn

I invite the House to think about An Garda Síochána and the unique monopoly services it provides to the Irish people. Its ability to deliver those services affects us all on a daily basis. I commend our local An Garda Síochána. Since 2008 when I entered public life, I have had relationships with community gardaí and local sergeants and superintendents who do tremendous work on the ground, go beyond the call of duty, attend the community meetings and go out there and give up their own free time continuously to our community. The tremendous work that goes on voluntarily, as well as part of our their duty of An Garda Síochána, needs to be put on the record.

An Garda Síochána is a key national institution. It is there to protect and serve. Such an organisation deserves the best leadership culture. The quality of the service delivered by An Garda Síochána over the course of the leadership of former Commissioner, Drew Harris declined dramatically. His tenure as Commissioner was built on myth, smoke and mirrors and cloak and dagger. Let me address the myth of Drew Harris, the great disciplinarian. There is a world of difference between being a good disciplinary, which requires impartiality, objectivity, proportionality and respect for human rights and what we truly got, which was an autocrat, oppressor and petty peevish management style. The public inquiry that is occurring in respect to the Limerick situation with Superintendent Eamon O'Neill and colleagues, which the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have agreed to, will demonstrate a radical difference between Drew Harris, the myth and Drew Harris, the lived reality.

A number of weeks ago, I raised questions in this House regarding the case of Mr. John Barrett. I am sure that this will refute the myth of Mr. Drew Harris and the question of being a disciplinarian. It will lead to serious questions that will land at the doors of Cabinet and the Minister's desk. In the case of the bicycle gate and how the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, NBCI, seized bicycles from pensioners, will also discredit and destroy the current myth of Drew Harris, the disciplinarian.

Let me address the prudent management myth of Drew Harris. Mr. Harris left us with a weakened policing infrastructure, fewer gardaí per 100,000 of population despite a 70% increase in the budget of policing in the course of his service of this country, mid-career resignations at the highest level never seen before in this country, a Garda Reserve that is practically non-existent and a sop called community safety wardens, which was given on a whim by the Minister's predecessor, Deputy Helen McEntee, and not integrated into the policing model. Was the former Minister "Svengalied" by Drew Harris? Was she manipulated or did she act as a willing accomplice?

Deputy Michael Collins

The Minister's legacy will be what he has delivered. At this present time, if we look at the garda allocations that were released in February, there was not one extra garda given to west Cork. The Minister has to stand before the Dáil and give us the reasons for that. He cannot say that there is not enough gardaí. There were 176. Obviously, there needs to be far more than that coming through. Gardaí have retired in west Cork over the past number of years but since 2022 zero gardaí have been sent to the Bantry division. That is an astonishing attack on the people of west Cork. There are no gardaí in Drinagh, Drimoleague, Kilbrittain, all these places and probably in Kealkill. There are gardaí coming out of the main divisional headquarters like Bantry and Skibbereen to try to cover those areas. That is not good enough. They need replacements similar to what has happened for generations. Why are these people being victimised?

Like everybody else, I praise the gardaí who are out there because they are under massive pressure. I have been communicating with them. They run the Garda youth awards. It would be great to invite the Minister down and to be there sometime to see how good the young people are and how the gardaí can get the best out of the youth, including people like Damian White, Don Davis and Bridget Hartnett. We are very lucky to have some gardaí, but we do not have enough. It is a problem. The problem that we have now is that even if the Government is no longer closing the Garda stations, it has effectively closed them because there is no light on and there is no garda there anymore. Why have no gardaí been allocated to west Cork? The Minister needs to answer that question. There has to be a reason. There was only one deployed in the previous allocation. There is a real serious problem out there.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

The fall in the number of gardaí in this country is one of the worst legacies of the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independent Government. It has enormous effects throughout society. I will focus on one of the effects, which relates to road traffic accidents. Mia Lily Keogh O'Keeffe was a young 16-year-old girl going about her daily life on a Saturday in Navan in February. She was killed at a pedestrian crossing while walking her dog. When Mia Lily was born in 2009, there were 1,046 gardaí assigned to traffic policing in this State. In the year she was killed, there were 618 gardaí assigned to road traffic policing. In January, another 16-year-old girl, Grace Lynch, was killed when she was struck by a scrambler in Finglas. The Government had the power to ban scramblers since 2023, but it did not until after the death of Grace Lynch. Today, a Garda representative body claimed that gardaí are neither trained sufficiently to pursue scramblers nor do they have the legal protections to do so.

Ireland has witnessed a significant increase in horrendous road deaths. All of us have been stopped in our tracks over the past few months witnessing this but there is a direct correlation between the number of gardaí policing our roads and road deaths. If the Minister is going to allow for the number to fall into the future, we will have more road deaths. Unfortunately, people's behaviours turn for the worst when they know that they are not going to be stopped or checked on the road for bad driving behaviour. It is true for crime as well. We have seen a massive spike in the number of violent and serious crimes in many parts of the country in recent times.

If we look at what is happening to the Garda, it is incredible. Resignations over the past number of years have never been as high. Gardaí are voting with their feet, and they are leaving. Gardaí are being attacked on a daily basis. A parliamentary question reply that I received shows a significant number with at least one garda being physically attacked on a daily basis in this country. Garda have been on sick leave.

A total of 35 gardaí were on sick leave last year due to poor mental health and ill health - 300 in total over the past six years. Garda numbers are still falling. Incredibly, in 2024, Australia recruited more gardaí net than this State. If the Government is not willing to give the proper pay, terms and conditions to gardaí working in this State, they are not going to be able to remain in office. With the spike in costs, especially fuel costs, gardaí are unable to pay to fill a tank with fuel. I am calling for the Minister to invest significantly in pay, terms and conditions to make sure we have the gardaí necessary to police the roads and streets in towns and villages throughout this country.

Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty

I welcome this brief opportunity to talk about Garda resourcing. I spoke very recently about how the actual number of gardaí per head of population is lower now than it was in 2008, which is a shocking indictment of the system. The Minister needs to get more gardaí into the system and obviously that means paying them, along with other public sector workers, a fair and decent wage and getting rid of the yellow-pack pay and conditions that were brought in during the times of austerity. Equally, we have to provide opportunities for gardaí to live and work in communities. We can possibly look introducing a Dublin allowance for people living in very expensive areas. In my constituency, the cost of affordable housing keeps going up because of demand. I have spoken about that before as well. We do not have public sector workers living in areas where they are able to see what is going on in their daily lives as opposed to their working lives.

When I raised the issue of antisocial behaviour in a Private Members' motion last year, the Minister gave a commitment that he would look at freeing up Garda time. I gave the example of a school where stones were being thrown at the school by people who are trying to rob bikes and the Garda response was "sorry, the car is in at the courts". Obviously, for antisocial behaviour orders, a sergeant or someone of a higher rank is needed to go in but a lot of Garda time is spent in court testifying when it could be done more efficiently through video. This would free up gardaí to operate on the ground. The key element of this motion is the reduction in community gardaí. They are the ones at the forefront identifying problems as they arise and we need to resource that particular grouping in particular.

Deputy Tom Brabazon

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this vital issue. Garda resources are one of the most consistent and pressing concerns raised with me by constituents. Day in, day out I hear from my community that the Garda presence in our communities is simply not strong enough or visible enough. Across my constituency of Dublin Bay North, there are areas crying out for more gardaí. These are areas whose populations are increasing on a daily basis. People are telling me they do not see the same presence on the streets anymore. They are worried and frustrated. They want to feel safe going about their daily lives and right now, too many do not feel safe. Our gardaí do fantastic work, often in very difficult circumstances, but they cannot do the impossible. There are stations in my community that are stretched to their limits. Gardaí cannot be everywhere and they cannot meet the needs of communities without proper staffing and resourcing.

I welcome the increase in Garda numbers that was announced recently. We need to keep this up if we are to reach the numbers that are so badly needed. We are on the right trajectory but we cannot sit back. We need to create additional critical momentum in this regard. What people want is quite simple - more gardaí on the beat, on our streets and in our communities. They want the reassurance that when an issue arises, there is a Garda ready to respond. That visible presence is what builds trust and confidence and keeps people safe. I am asking the Government to go further and faster in increasing Garda numbers and to support our communities by ensuring that sufficient numbers are deployed to areas that need them most. People deserve to feel safe where they work and where they live. Right now, too many people do not feel that. That must change and it is our responsibility to create that change

Deputy Cathal Crowe

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. I start by commending the Minister, who has really grasped the nettle here with the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. We are down to core policing issues because that is what really matters to people. People do not want fluff; they want to know that there will be gardaí on the street, that people feel safer and that there is high visibility so all of that is important.

I really welcome the fact that in the past year, 794 new recruits have gone through the gates of Templemore with many of them already attesting and joining the ranks. I also welcome more visible patrols, which I have seen in my county. One sees gardaí on the street. That is where people really want them. We do not want them behind desks doing administrative work. We want them out there doing core policing duties.

A lot of good stuff is happening. I would love the Minister of State to outline a proposal in the programme for Government - one I would have submitted at the time negotiations were under way to form a Government - to reintroduce the electronic tagging of prisoners. It was there in the past and the legislative basis for it is there. It flopped. It was costly, was not used properly and was not used effectively in the past but I think it can have a real place now because it is devastating for victims of crime to see people walk out of the court system or worse again go into prison for a few hours only to be sent out the back door and home in a taxi. That is not good enough. Other jurisdictions use electronic tagging of prisoners very effectively and we should be doing it too. I would love to hear from the Minister of State when he makes his concluding remarks what kind of timelines we can expect in that regard.

I also want to speak about some geographical imbalances. A few years ago, Garda divisions were realigned. The Garda division that covers my county also covers County Tipperary and six of the superintendent positions are based in Tipperary with just one in County Clare. Similar imbalances can be seen across the country. We need to be cognisant of that going forward.

I have often risen to my feet in this Chamber to speak about the 108 gardaí who were at one point suspended. That figure has dropped a little bit now. We need to know at all times that this Government and this country has their back. The processes are under way but I think an inquiry is required to look into how it was that gardaí, particularly in the Limerick division, which covers part of Clare, were suspended. They have all been acquitted. It has been costly to the State but there needs to be a deeper drilling down into that issue to understand how we got to that point. That should have been an internal disciplinary matter. It should not have blown up in the courts.

Deputy Barry Heneghan

My father was a Garda, as were my grandfather and my great-grandfather. I will not be supporting the motion, not because I do not think there are real issues but because I believe they need to be looked at by An Garda Síochána itself and I believe a lot of good things have happened in An Garda Síochána since the formation of this Government. I acknowledge the gardaí themselves; the men and women who put themselves on the line day in, day out. The vast majority of gardaí are dedicated professionals who are deeply committed to the communities they serve. As other Deputies have mentioned, they need more support. Support has been growing but we need to do it faster.

I know from speaking to gardaí and members of the public in Dublin Bay North that there is a clear imbalance between areas in north Dublin and other parts of the city. With the recent announcements of extra gardaí, people in my constituency can see it and would love to feel it. We would love to see more gardaí on the beat but to get more gardaí, we need more people to apply for the job. We need more support for all critical workers, for example by exploring housing supports, rental assistance or something similar to what has been done for public servants in London. If we brought in essential workers such as teachers, gardaí and nurses and gave them financial supports, particularly at the beginning of their career, it would help. Outside the Dáil today, we see another group of essential workers - Northside Home Care Services - on strike. They do not have pay parity and that needs to be looked at as well.

If we do not address this, we will see more struggles with recruitment, retention and building trust in the community. There are issues and gaps but we need targeted investments, a fair allocation of resources and practical supports for An Garda Síochána. I commend An Garda Síochána on its work across communities in Dublin Bay North over the weekend of St. Patrick's Day. Its work involving all the parades was brilliant and I thank it for that.

Deputy Danny Healy-Rae

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak about An Garda Síochána today. I thank it for its great work in Kerry. It is a massive county and the distances are very great around all the peninsulas and everything. We have to thank it especially for making progress in connection with the murder of Michael Gaine. We welcome this and hope that it continues to bring this to the conclusion desired by many people because Michael Gaine was loved and appreciated first of all by his own family but also by the vast number of friends he had. It upset the whole county when this tragic episode took place around 12 months ago.

It was very regretable that Garda stations like in Lauragh and Sneem do not have a Garda presence all the time.

This is not helping the elimination of drugs. We know that there are drugs are coming into the small harbours and piers. There is no proper monitoring of what is going on along the bay. There are drugs coming in every day. They are visible in every town, village and community now. They are coming from somewhere and more needs to be done to stop this.

What is also happening now is that there are people renting houses around our local areas. Previously, the local garda knew who every one of these people were, wherever they came in from and whoever they were. As soon as they landed, the garda usually visited them to see who they were and what they were at. That is not happening now. I see fellows - not in our locality, where I know a lot of people - in parishes local to me and we do not know who they are. No one seems to know what they are doing. You will not see some of them all day. They are inside in houses. You might not see them for a week. We do not know what they are doing. Certainly, it is not the Ireland that we used to know previously. It is not that I want to know everyone's business or anything like that. That is not the point. There are things happening. I do not think the Garda has the ability now to follow these people up before they do untold damage, carry out robberies, or bring in drugs or whatever. We do not know what these people are doing. There needs to be more command over people from different countries who come in. We do not know what they are doing or where they came from, or if they have ever been vetted. We do not really know for sure what is happening around us.

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)

I thank the Deputies for their comments and contributions on the Labour Party motion today. I particularly note many of the complimentary comments in relation to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, who obviously has a vast knowledge and deep understanding of this area and, indeed, the workings of An Garda Síochána. Like others, I want to express my thanks to An Garda Síochána for the excellent work it does on a daily basis.

Over the next couple of minutes, I will outline the impact of the work that An Garda Síochána does in Ireland. The 2025 Global Peace Index outlined that Ireland remains ranked overall the second most peaceful country in the world, after Iceland, and in the top ten in the societal safety and security category. That is very much down to the work of An Garda Síochána. Long-term trends continue to demonstrate an ongoing and sustained reduction in recorded crime. An Garda Síochána recently highlighted that CSO figures show that Ireland recorded a 7% reduction in crime between 2019 and 2024 while undergoing a 9.3% increase in population - that is significant - and an even greater reduction in crime between 2002 and 2024 while experiencing a 37% increase in population. As the population has gone up, the work of An Garda Síochána has led to a situation were crime is reducing. While crime levels are relatively low, the Government is not complacent and will continue to invest in An Garda Síochána to enhance its ability prevent and detect crime. In this regard, I am pleased to be able to outline further supports this Government is providing to An Garda Síochána.

In order to ensure that the needs of the organisation are met over the next decade, the Garda training review group has been established. The group is tasked with identifying options to increase the scale and capacity of high-quality education, training and continuous professional development in An Garda Síochána. The group will also consider specifically the case for a second training college and the role that the tertiary system could play in the delivery of Garda training for all members of An Garda Síochána. This work will also recognise that there will be increased training needs right across the organisation as it continues to meet new challenges and deliver on its mandate.

Late last year, following the review of the national development plan, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, secured €2.18 billion for a justice sectoral investment plan out to 2030. There is €911 million of this allocated to Garda projects, including the completion of new Garda stations. This investment will see the completion of new Garda stations in Portlaoise, Newcastle West and Bailieborough, in 2026 and early 2027. It will also support work on new stations in Macroom, Clonmel, Castletroy, Carndonagh and a new HQ for the Dublin north region. The Garda College in Templemore will also receive a significant investment, as the Minister mentioned earlier. Importantly, €35 million in funding is also provided for a rolling programme of minor refurbishment works at Garda stations around the country. I will have to mention my local station in Clonakilty, which will avail of this investment. This investment will ensure that stations across the country receive the improvements they need.

I also want to highlight the €69 million the Minister has allocated through the sectoral investment plan to expand, modernise, diversify and electrify the Garda fleet over the next five years. Following sustained investment in air assets, a second new helicopter will be delivered in 2026, significantly enhancing surveillance, search and public order capabilities. Funding is also provided to An Garda Síochána to further develop its drone technology as well as accommodation for the equine and canine units. There has been €460 million allocated in the national development plan to increase Garda capabilities in the areas of digital transformation, technology and cybersecurity. We have seen the benefits of funding in this area in recent times. All gardaí are now equipped with mobile devices which allow them to, among other things, access the PULSE system, scan driver licences to check for validity and disqualifications, and verify insurance, tax and national car test, NCT, details for road users. As a result, gardaí can quickly and efficiently identify offenders and issue fixed-charge notices for a range of traffic offences.

Additional funding to support the full nationwide roll-out of body-worn cameras for An Garda Síochána is critical to protect front-line gardaí and prevent criminal activity. There has been €19 million allocated as part of budget 2026 to support this. Highly successful pilot projects have been operating in Dublin city, Waterford and Limerick. Body-worn cameras are curbing public aggression and preventing crime, and the evidential value of footage is helping to secure convictions in court.

This Government is also working to support the gardaí by bringing through legislation which allows An Garda Síochána to respond to the challenges it faces. The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025 is progressing through the Houses. Once enacted, this legislation will save Garda time associated with reviewing vast amounts of video footage and images. It is not acceptable that gardaí are spending hours on end combing through footage for evidential material when we can make use of a technological solution. This Bill will also provide for biometric analysis which conducts searches of general characteristics, unknown individuals and known individuals. It is intended that biometric analysis may be carried out retrospectively on documents gathered in the course of an investigation by gardaí in the context of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of an arrestable offence; in the search for missing persons; and for the protection of the security of the State. There will, of course, be protections and oversight mechanisms put in place, including a code of practice and oversight by a High Court judge, who will report to the Taoiseach annually on the operation of biometric analysis. The Government is also progressing the Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026. The primary aims of this Bill are to provide a clear and transparent statutory basis for the existing police powers of search, arrest and detention, supported by statutory codes of practice; subject to those powers, place the fundamental and procedural rights of suspected and accused persons on a statutory basis; and rationalise and modernise the powers to take account of developments in modern technology and best practice in policing.

The Garda operating model has also introduced a number of new ways in which the Garda organisation is administered. These changes reflect the fact that policing has changed at the same time as our country has changed. Transformation in our way of life, in our work, in our communities, in technology and in our infrastructure have meant changing demands on Garda resources. What has not changed is the ethos and mission of An Garda Síochána. The new operating model has changed the way in which Garda work is managed and has enabled An Garda Síochána to free up policing resources to do police work. It takes account of the fact that there are newer types of crime, such as cybercrimes, that require specialist resources.

Domestic and sexual violence has also been a focus of the Garda Síochána and of Government in the past number of years, and the roll out of divisional protective services units across the country is welcome. This is to say that the gardaí should be able to change the way they work, the way they are structured and the way in which resources can be deployed to adequately serve the community. The operating model is facilitating these changes so that all policing services can be delivered locally. There are assertions that rural areas in particular feel the operating model does not work, and that it breaks the link between communities and their gardaí. However, the model has realigned Garda functions so that there is at least one dedicated community engagement superintendent in every division. In larger divisions, there are two or three, each over a community engagement area.

The model removes the administrative load from these senior gardaí to other functions within the division such as business services, so that they can focus on delivering front-line policing, which is what we want our gardaí to be doing.

An Garda Síochána plays a crucial role in ensuring the security of the State, protecting and serving communities across Ireland through the maintenance of law and order and upholding the principles of justice. All of the work and investments made by this Government are making a difference to the ongoing development of that service, and will ensure that communities across Ireland can be confident in the policing service they receive from An Garda Síochána, now and in the years and decades to come.

Deputy Duncan Smith

I thank Deputy Kelly for bringing this motion forward today. It is very important. One of the biggest failures of successive governments has been the failure to invest in our gardaí, Garda resources and Garda stations. It is an absolute scandal and it is vitally important we are talking about this today.

Our Garda numbers are very far down. I will talk about road traffic gardaí in a few moments but if we look at the resources and the places where gardaí are working, I live in the third largest town in Ireland by population, Swords, and our Garda station is not fit for purpose. For one month during the winter, it was without heating and hot water. Imagine if they turned the hot water taps off in this building for ten minutes. There would be absolute uproar. We had gardaí investigating delicate and sensitive murder cases and having people in custody without hot water and heating. The conference room where neighbourhood watch meetings take place suffered a leak and has been out of commission for weeks. Gardaí will not transfer to that station because of the working conditions. Donabate, a town that has gone up to 20,000 people, is a huge town, yet there are no plans to deliver a Garda station there. There is nothing in the Garda Commissioner's plans to deliver there.

On road traffic policing, we continue to have an absolute epidemic and a disaster in deaths on our roads. I am 22 years driving this year. In my first couple of years driving, I remember running into static breathalyse checkpoints. They were not uncommon on Collins Avenue, Glen Ellen Road and Holywell. They are ones that come to mind. I drove between Monaghan and Cavan once and to Kinsale and in the first three or four years I was driving, it was not uncommon to bump into a checkpoint. I have not been breathalysed at a random checkpoint in years. Why is that? It is because we are 40% down in road traffic policing. It is no coincidence. There is a correlation between that and the deaths on our roads, of that I have absolutely no doubt. It is another failure of investment and strategy from this Government.

This is an absolute crisis. This motion speaks to the collapse in morale within our gardaí. Our gardaí have not been supported by senior management and that is having an impact on the policing levels on our streets, and it has to end. I commend this motion. I wish Government would withdraw its amendment and get to work in improving and fixing An Garda Síochána.

Deputy Marie Sherlock

I want to start by thanking my colleague, Deputy Kelly, for bringing forward this motion, and to express my disappointment in the Government's proposal to amend it today because we very much need to acknowledge the incredible work An Garda Síochána is doing across our country. As a Dublin Central TD, the Dublin riots will be an image and experience that will forever condition my approach to how we need to police in Dublin. There was a very strong sense in the wake of that event that things would never be the same again. It exposed the city and An Garda Síochána to awful events. In the three years since then, there has been a major effort by gardaí to improve visibility and to engage with communities but they are effectively doing this by running to try to stand still. While we are very grateful there is a significant chunk of the recruits coming out of Templemore being allocated to the Garda stations, in particular in the north inner city, the reality is we have fewer gardaí now than what we had pre-pandemic. We have four gardaí fewer compared to December 2019. During that time, we have had a significant increase in population, and that is the challenge the gardaí on our streets are currently facing.

Unfortunately, the gardaí locally are accused of being soft on kids on scramblers and I want to reject that. The gardaí have a very delicate balancing act between not making martyrs of teenagers or children and maintaining the trust of the local community. Work has been done to try to confiscate scramblers but we know so much more has to be done, and there is a clear need by Garda leadership, particularly by the Commissioner, to ensure that message is sent to gardaí on the ground. They must intervene to a much greater extent. We also need to see the deployment of technology, like in Manchester where drones were deployed, to try to take scramblers off our streets.

Ultimately, when we look at the resources gardaí have for dealing with those underage and with children, the number of juvenile liaison officers, JLOs, in our community does not inspire confidence. We have only four across DMR north central, and we cannot get away from the fact we have too few people dealing with the children on the ground.

In regard to domestic violence and the very real concern about the inconsistency across the country, across the 21 Garda divisions, only seven have domestic abuse co-ordination teams. There are 13 in Dublin and one in Dundalk, and none for the rest of the country. We have to change that.

Deputy Alan Kelly

In conclusion, it would have been respectful if the Minister from the Department of justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, was actually here.

Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan

He was here for almost the entire debate.

Deputy Alan Kelly

He was not.

Deputy Peadar Tóibín

There are three Ministers in the Department of justice.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy can continue.

Deputy Alan Kelly

Can I have that time back please?

In the remaining time, I want to deal with the legacy issues. You cannot move forward unless you deal with legacy issues, and there is a huge number of them, particularly in the period of the previous Commissioner. I urge this Government to read the article in the Irish Independent yesterday by Denis Whelan, former superintendent, in which he talked about a culture of fear in An Garda Síochána. It was one of the best and most honest articles I have ever read from a garda who has just retired. He was a superintendent in Wexford, somebody whom my colleague, Deputy George Lawlor, knows very well, and who was brilliant at his job. He talked about a culture of fear.

When I talk about legacy issues, I could talk about the importation of firearms under false instruments; defective ammunition; repair of privately owned guns by An Garda Síochána; the storage of firearms in Garda headquarters, which was a mess; the drugs that were found in Garda headquarters; and the lack of proper governance of DNA samples. I could talk about a whole range of other legacy issues. I could talk about the disgraceful way in which An Garda Síochána went after a garda because he lent a bike during Covid. That has now cost the State €400,000, and there was no bloody warrant to take the bike. Nobody seems to be acknowledging this. There was no warrant, and that farmer has never got retribution for the fact his property was entered without a warrant. That is on the record of the Dáil.

I could also talk about the fact 17,000 live fingerprints have been lost, which means prosecutions have been lost across this State, yet An Garda Síochána will not acknowledge this has happened. I could talk about the dysfunctional nature of the Department of justice working with An Garda Síochána and the fact that I, as an opposition TD, had to ring the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, to tell him the guns that were put in the car Evan Fitzgerald was in were put in by An Garda Síochána. He did not know. I had to tell him. What sort of a functional relationship is it, where I have more intelligence than the actual Minister for justice? That whole case, that tragic case which should never have happened, will need to be investigated.

I could also talk about the fact that, as I stand here, three gardaí who were suspended for years, are having their suspensions and the whole issue withdrawn in court in Limerick.

That is 11 gardaí. The Minister for justice says there will not be an independent inquiry despite Deputy Crowe saying there should be, despite the Taoiseach saying there should be and despite the Tánaiste saying there should be. Who pulls rank? There has to be an inquiry in relation to these 11 gardaí. The Minister says calls for independent inquiries for every single court case brought against gardaí cannot become the norm. This is not an individual. This is 11. What happened here was a disgrace and will have to be investigated.

Most of all, I can also talk about what I have raised here and in committee on numerous occasions in relation to how gardaí were given faulty holsters, the impact that has had on the lives of serving gardaí and the tragedy it has caused. This will haunt this Government and the previous Government. It will haunt this Minister, and it will haunt the Minister, Deputy McEntee. What will also haunt them is the manner in which they did not deal appropriately with protected disclosures that were made to them. I guarantee that it will come back to haunt these Ministers. I guarantee it.

Amendment put.

An Ceann Comhairle

In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is deferred until the weekly division time this evening.

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht - Wednesday, 25 Mar 2026

An Garda Síochána: Motion [Private Members]

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 25 Mar 2026