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A group of Galway TDs have raised serious concerns about ongoing morale and staffing issues in An Garda Síochána.
The Regional Group of TDs, which includes Galway’s Seán Canney, Denis Naughten, and Noel Grealish, have ublished a motion expressing severe concerns regarding the ongoing challenges faced by An Garda Síochána.
The motion calls for an immediate review of An Garda Síochána, and engagement with all shareholders, with recommendations to be published within 12 weeks.
The group have expressed particular concern about declining morale and issues around retention, the mandatory retirement age of 60 years, recruitment, transfers, rostering, entry-level pay, and the need to improve work practices.
“The Regional Group state that we must address the increasing assaults on Gardaí while on duty,” the groups said in a statement.
“We should get tougher on such crimes and create new legislation to act as a deterrent with mandatory custodial sentences for the criminal action of purposefully causing injury to a Garda”.
In their motion, the Regional Group TDs note the role of community policing in building solid relationships, fostering cooperation, and proactively addressing local concerns.
They seek to guarantee a baseline per capita Garda figure in each county to ensure that certain areas in the state are not under-policed.
The motion seeks for the number of Gardaí to be increased to 16,000 by the year 2028, and for the establishment of a mandatory custodial sentence for attacking Gardaí.
It also asks for the abandonment of all rostering changes until after the review is completed.
The shift back to pre-pandemic rosters was one of if not the driving issue behind the Garda Representative Association overwhelmingly voting no confidence in Commissioner Drew Harris recently.
