Submission to Oireachtas Committee

For the full video of the GRA’s appearance at the Dail’s Joint Justice Committee on June 17 2025 click on this link” please

Video of submission to Oireachtas

GRA SUBMISSION to the JOINT COMMITTEE ON JUSTICE, HOME AFFAIRS & MIGRATION

RECRUITMENT & RETENTION

An Garda Síochána faces similar challenges as other police forces throughout the world regarding recruitment. A career in policing is a rewarding one that requires a sense of vocation. Traditionally, the trade-off for such a career was job security with a sustainable pension and the ability to retire slightly earlier than other professions as recognition of the demanding role and attrition that is attached to the position as a member of An Garda Síochána.

The Commissioner recently admitted that the challenge around attracting new members is the most significant challenge to face the Organisation. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that the Government and the Garda Organisation is actively making strides to address this challenge.

There is far too much emphasis placed on the Covid pandemic. The fact that Garda Management failed to adapt in time to ensure recruitment continued during this pandemic was a serious failing. This coupled with the decision of the Commissioner in 2019 to reduce the number of Garda recruits by 200 was a serious failing.

It was once the situation that the best recruiter for a career in the AGS, were Gardaí themselves. Sadly, this is no longer the case. Exit interviews carried out by the GRA clearly show serious areas of concern among members who have decided to leave the organisation. These issues in conjunction with the overall non-existence of morale led recently to a vote of no confidence in the Garda Commissioner.

The result of this vote should have seen a marked response to address the issues that lead to such an unprecedented ballot, but the opposite was the case. Denial of low morale and associated issues continue.

This invariably has an effect of how the current members portray their career to potential candidates. And the results are the low number of trainees over the last number of years and the ever-increasing level of resignations and retirements.

The introduction of the new career averaging pension scheme in 2013 has significantly reduced the way new recruits view An Garda Síochána as a career. New recruits tend to see policing more as part of an individual’s wider career as opposed to the whole of their career.

When this is coupled with the increasing costs in housing in all major urban areas, long commutes as a result of having to reside at their home, and the forever increasing workload which is the result of the ever-diminishing resources, and it becomes apparent why so many members are leaving An Garda Síochána early.

The totally inadequate trainee allowance that is payable to new recruits is something that needs to be addressed immediately. €354 per week, which is equal to 65% of the minimum wage is failing to attract potential new recruits from other forms of employment, especially when the more mature potential recruit may already have financial commitments. In addition to this, recruits are sent to training stations for 10 weeks where they may have to retain accommodation, where they must pay for food and incur further travelling costs, but do not receive any extra allowance to compensate for this. These issues do not impress upon potential new recruits that they are a valuable asset and how they will be appreciated within An Garda Síochána.

The Government workforce plan in 2017 was to have 21,000 thousand personal in AGS by 2021, including a planned 15,000 gardai. This figure has never been achieved, and we are now further away at 14,300 than we were in 2020 (14,750 ).

Both Government and Garda management failed to accept that a recruitment crisis existed, and no action was taken by either to address the continued decline in applications and admissions.

Unfortunately, at the same time retention of members became a crisis in itself. Where pre-covid, normal yearly resignation figures were in the low 30’s/40’s, these figures began to rise in conjunction with the new regime within AGS, to an all-time high of 169 in 2023. Coupled with the increasing retirement figures over the same period, AGS was losing between 300 and 500 members per year from 2020 onwards. Between 2022 and 2024 AGS has attested 1,138 new members while retirements and resignations have numbered in excess of 1,250. This is against a background of an increase in the population by nearly half a million people.

The stark fact is that within the last 7 years over 1,750 gardai have retired and 700 gardaí have resigned from An Garda Síochána, with the only action from Garda Management is to justify these numbers as the industrial norm.

Despite these figures Government continues to announce funding for 1000’s of gardaí without addressing the issue where new recruits are asked to join and exist on just over half the minimum wage, ignoring repeated requests from the GRA to increase this to €35k per annum.

As mentioned in the opening statement, pre-elections the GRA submitted a Six Point Plan which we believe would address not only the recruitment but the retention issue. We have sought that Government would reduce the points on the pay scale, allowing new recruits to achieve more significant increases at earlier points of their career, which would allow for new members to be able to live in the large expensive urban areas where the majority are stationed. The introduction of a long service increment and the OSP to post 2013 members would also address the issue of retention.

Under the current pay deal, the GRA have decided to use the majority of our allocation of 3% to propose a retention allowance for its members to encourage our members to remain in AGS. This was proposed as no meaningful action was been taking by Government or Garda Management to address the retention issue.

Recently the Commissioner has finally accepted that the main challenge facing AGS was its ability to recruit and retain members. Unfortunately, no action has been taken to address the issues of low morale, excessive administration tasks and box ticking processes, no in-person upskilling and training, yet continuous issuing of policies and procedures which members must comply with, and excessive use of discipline and suspension which has resulted in members being in fear of receiving any form of complaint as there is little trust in the discipline process. Additionally, the recently enacted Conduct, Performance and Standards of Professional Behaviour Regulations will do little to dispel this fear, as these new regulations enshrine that members of AGS are less equal than every other state employee with less protections but more regulatory demands and oversight.

The overuse of suspension and the excessive use of discipline can easily be seen from the many public cases that have recently been in the media. The infamous bicycle case not only highlighted the excessive use of suspension but highlights the lack of understanding of how community policing works by senior gardaí. The more recent case in Limerick where a member faced 22 charges after a near seven-year investigation, where the member had been languishing on suspension, to be cleared of all charges, further highlights the fears members face when the perform their duty and complaints and investigations are launched.

OPERATIONAL POLICING MODEL

The OPM was introduced in 2019 as part of the Government reform program, A Policing Service for Our Future which morphed from the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. The aim of this model was to modernise AGS, by decentralising decision making, enhancing community engagement, and improving frontline visibility.

Under the model the number of divisions were reduced from 28 to 19, each overseen by a chief superintendent. These divisions were further reorganised into four functional areas: Business Services, Performance and Assurance, Crime, and Community Engagement. A review recommended that two 3 county divisions would change to three 2 county divisions.

The model introduced more sergeants and inspectors to provide increase frontline supervision and saw the creation of specialised units within local divisions.

The OPM was to have a community policing focused aspect and was emphasise proactive community driven policing, aiming to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour through collaboration with local communities and agencies.

Unfortunately, the OPM continues to encounter challenges and fails to deliver on the commitments made. The significant issues affecting the OPM is the resource shortage. There are insufficient garda members to meet service requirements under the model. It has failed to deliver high visibility policing, in fact the presence of gardaí in the community has decreased under the model. It is without doubt that the OPM is not suitable for rural policing. It has led to a loss of links with local communities.

The model continues to be forced through even though the significant short comings and failings are continually highlighted by many stakeholders and elected officials.

The OPM’s aim was to modernise policing in Ireland by decentralising operations and focusing on community engagement. The OPM is responsible for removing rural community policing from Ireland. The increase in the size of Garda Divisions has not benefited policing, in fact the opposite is the case. Less garda members are covering greater areas, stretching resources to the maximum. Members are left exposed when encountering violent incidents as backup can be an hour away or more. Take the 3 county models for instance, Louth /Cavan/ Monaghan covers a vast rural hinterland from Blacklion in the west of Ireland to Blackrock, Co Louth on the east coast. Similarly, if we look at Mayo/ Roscommon/ Longford it stretches from Achill Island to Ballymahon Co Longford. Even the large 2 county super divisions are causing serious issues regarding providing a basic community Police service to the public.  

While the de-centralisation of specialist units is welcomed, unfortunately those members have come directly from the frontline. With recruitment in crisis, new recruits are only replacing members who join these specialised units.

COMMUNITY POLICING

Prior to the implementation of the OPM, Ireland possessed the most desired model of Community Policing in the policing world. Garda members not only stationed in community areas but interlinked with that community, living and working together with their community for the betterment of both.

As a result of the OPM the local garda has been stripped from the community. Members may still on paper be stationed in country stations, no doubt Garda Management will state that there are x number of garda stations with members and that they are open to their communities, but in fact this is a serious misrepresentation of the facts. Members in country stations are repeatedly and consistently being brought to their urban centres to man patrol cars.

Where previously most incidents in country areas were investigated by the local garda, which resulted in increased local knowledge, now under the OPM most incidents while investigated are done by gardaí stationed miles away with little or no knowledge of the community and no time or reason to expand that knowledge.

Communities are stripped of garda presence and rural towns and villages don’t see gardaí from one week to the next. The continued push to implement this model is incredulous. It again highlights that AGS and the PCSA are more concerned with ensuring that a plan is implemented instead of whether it works and whether it actually benefits the communities that we serve.

The fear of the Garda Representative Association is that if this model of policing is allowed to continue, the link between the gardaí and the communities that they serve may never be re-established. 

ROADS POLICING

Last year, the Garda Commissioner appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, where he was questioned regarding the rising number of road deaths. Before that Committee, the Commissioner said he intended to add 75 members to the Road Policing Units in 2024 and a further 75 in 2025. Despite this only 23 members were added last year. In February 2025 there was around 620 members attached to Roads Policing. In 2009 that figure was in excess of 1,000.

The Commissioner’s direction that all members of regular units must perform 30 minutes of roads policing duty a day is a far cry from allocating dedicated personnel to the role, where their sole objective is the detection of offences and to deter bad driver behaviour.

There is also a severe failure in the delivery of proper, adequate, and appropriate driver training for our members. The recent acquisition of several unmarked vehicles for Roads Policing is to be commended. These vehicles enhance the operational capabilities of the Roads Policing members, but the need for additional vehicles of this type has been identified. However, a recurring issue is the lack of adequate driver training for members designated to operate these vehicles. Without sufficient training, the effectiveness of these resources cannot be fully realised.

Just last Tuesday, Commissioner Harris sat before this table and admitted that there was still no what he called “a blanket policy on pursuit” and that an assessment had to be made on a case-by-case basis. This has led to confusion, apprehension and even a fear of discipline among our ranks as our members struggle to choose between doing what they believe is right, and what action they believe may follow their decision making. The recently issued policy governing pursuits requires drivers to be pursuit trained, but there is no such training within An Garda Síochána.

Additionally, Stingers, a vital tool for safe pursuit termination, are not standard equipment in all Roads Policing vehicles. This lack of uniformity undermines operational capabilities and restricts Roads Policing members' options during pursuits.

Despite the Commissioner giving assurances that pursuing motorcycles is permitted, practical application of this policy is the complete opposite. Particularly in large urban areas, youths engaging in anti-social behaviour while riding scramblers on public roads pose a significant challenge. Members often find themselves with no actionable recourse but to withdraw, which further emboldens such behaviour. Unfortunately, examples of this are all too common on social media.

The shortage of Forensic Collision Investigators (FCIs) within An Garda Síochána is another pressing issue, particularly as these professionals play a pivotal role in Roads Policing and An Garda Síochána. Despite efforts to address this shortage through two recent recruitment competitions, the first competition was cancelled, and the second competition has yet to be concluded.  This failure has left An Garda Síochána struggling to adequately serve the public, the victims of road traffic collisions, and their families. The lack of trained FCIs undermines the organisation’s capacity to investigate collisions effectively.

We note that the Commissioner last week mentioned the fact that we now have the biggest vehicle fleet ever in AGS. However, it is also worthy of mention that many of these new vehicles are Electric vehicles and there is no proper infrastructure in place to adequately charge these vehicles at stations across the country. We now have the ridiculous scenario that Gardai are repeatedly sitting in charging stations across the country during their shifts due to the lack of foresight and planning.

CONDUCT/PERFORMANCE REGULATIONS

On April 2nd 2025 the Minister enacted these new regulations. He did so in the absence of meaningful negotiations on all these regulations, despite objections from the GRA. In doing so, the Minister has re-enforced to an already demoralised garda force that we are less than equal to ever other state employee. These regulations remove some of the very few protections that members had and now treat us differently from every other employee in the State. The regulations have been enacted without any process to deal with minor breaches, which still does not exist. The Commissioner has in turn implemented several interim policies and has used this opportunity to attempt to implement an unagreed Suspension Policy which breaches national pay agreements. The consequences of this action have yet to be determined.

This highlights the ongoing issue the GRA have with the application of the discipline and suspension regime within AGS. Members languishing on suspension for years, with no sign of any progress, despite the immeasurable damage such suspension has on the members themselves, their standing within their community and with their colleagues, not to mention the loss to the State in wages. One would question whether Garda Management are using Suspension as a punishment tool. Recent cases in the midlands and south only further highlights the overzealous investigations and suspension regime, where members are abandoned for years only to be totally vindicated in the Courts.

The main focus of the new conduct regulations seems to have been to change the board of appeal, by removing the employee representative. The previous process, which mirrored the Labour Court make-up, was working without incident for years and had the buy in from all parties. It is only in recent times, as a result of some members who had their recommendation of dismissal overturned, that a concerted effort to alter this set-up began.

Further highlighting the lack of meaningful consultation is the fact that the conduct and performance regulations have different appeal mechanisms. Under Conduct Regulations the appeal is now heard solely by a retired Judge. Under the Performance regulations the appeal is in house and heard by a Deputy Commissioner, which further highlights the unfairness of these regulations, where an employer can dismiss an employee with no external process to affirm that decision.

MORALE WITHIN AN GARDA SIOCHANA

Morale within An Garda Síochána has been a significant concern in recent years, with various reports and surveys highlighting issues such as burnout, stress, bullying, and a perceived lack of support from management. A survey conducted by the Garda Representative Association found that 97.5% of former Garda members reported that their mental and/or physical health had suffered during their service. The same survey indicated that 40% of those who resigned cited stress as a major contributing factor, with many describing the work environment as toxic and abusive.

The GRA's exit interviews also revealed widespread experiences of bullying, unfair treatment, and fear of disciplinary action among departing officers. Many expressed feeling undervalued and unsupported, leading to a significant number leaving the force.

While public confidence in An Garda Síochána remains strong, internal morale issues pose significant challenges. Addressing these concerns will require comprehensive reforms, improved support for officers, and a commitment to fostering a positive work environment, but all these measures require acceptance of the issue. The Commissioner still does not accept that such an issue exists. Acceptance of any issue is key to dealing with it.

SUBSISTENCE AND TRAVEL

Members of An Garda Síochána are still governed by a separate scheme than the rest of the public service due to the unique circumstances surrounding how members can be deployed away from their home on duty. The rates being paid to members are reflective of the rates that were in operation in 2002. The GRA have been seeking an increase in these rates since 2018 without success. Currently negotiations are ongoing with the Department of Justice and DPENDR for nearly two years in order that our members are reimbursed fairly for their expenses incurred while performing duty. Unfortunately, progress is slow and this issue is of serious concern to our members, especially with the upcoming presidency of the EU, and the expectancy that our members will once again be detailed for duty where they will be away from their homes and on posts for prolonged periods of time.

CONTINUOUS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/TRAINING

The role of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) within An Garda Síochána is central to maintaining high standards of professionalism, ethical conduct, and operational effectiveness throughout a Garda’s career. CPD ensures that all members — from new recruits to senior officers — remain up to date with legal, technological, and procedural developments in policing.

Currently there is no in-person classroom-based training for frontline gardai on new legislation over the last decade. This results in not only a deficit of knowledge for members performing their duty, but when genuine mistakes are made, to members being disciplined. The result of this is that discipline is being used as a training tool.

Under the new Conduct and Performance Regulations, not complying with policies and procedures is a specific serious breach under the Standards of Professional Behaviour Regulations, which further place more emphasis on the need for Garda Management to ensure all members are trained to ensure they are up to date on changes to legislation and the ever increasing number of policies being issued within An Garda Síochána.

CPD is not optional—it is a strategic requirement for professional policing in a modern democratic society.