Today\u2019s figures underline the failure of successive governments to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, according to Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon.<\/p>\n
Deputy Gannon said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been repeatedly raising the issue of Garda numbers and resources with Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan since the formation of this government – he has always reassured me that the situation was stable, but we knew that this was not true.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s reports show there are nearly 600 fewer frontline garda\u00ed than there were six years ago, and a record 10% of all stations have no dedicated garda assigned to them, not one.<\/p>\n
\u201c40% of stations now have fewer staff than they did in 2020. The government is failing to bolster our police force, especially in the areas which need it most, with Mountjoy in my own constituency of Dublin Central down 59 staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister has continuously opted for soundbites and platitudes to draw the focus away from this issue, but the jig is now up on his misdirection.<\/p>\n
\u201cGarda stations are lying empty throughout the country, while many of the others are understaffed and do not have the resources required to adequately police their area.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeanwhile, the Minister\u2019s boasts about high-visibility policing are unfounded – Garda presence in Dublin\u2019s inner city is still leaving much to be desired.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a justice Minister who runs his Department through press announcements which lack substance. No progress will be achieved if this is the approach taken going forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I previously stated last summer, the Government\u2019s pledge to add 5,000 new garda\u00ed over the next five years is little more than a pipe dream. We\u2019re seeing the reality of that now.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Garda recruitment and retention crisis continues to spiral out of control, yet the Minister responsible lies asleep at the wheel. We need a complete overhaul of the way this Government approaches policing in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
April 7th, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s figures underline the failure of successive governments to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, according to Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon. Deputy Gannon said: \u201cI have been repeatedly raising the issue of Garda numbers and resources with Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan since the formation of this government – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[496,316,411,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-garda","category-gary-gannon","category-justice","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n