ROAD DUTY COP NUMBERS HIT BY 14% CRASH
100 less garda on highways in 2024, new stats reveal
THERE are around 100 fewer gardai on roads now than there were three years ago, new figures have revealed.
It comes as Garda Commissioner Drew Harris recently revealed plans to make all rank and file officers do at least 30 minutes of road policing a day.
That plan has been blasted by the Garda Representative Association described as a PR stunt.
Data released by Justice Minister Helen Mcentee shows the number of dedicated road traffic gardai has fallen from 736 in 2021 to 631 in March 2024.
This constitutes a drop of 14% and comes amid another devastating week on Irish roads that saw five fatalities.
So far this year, 69 people have died in road traffic accidents, up from 51 on the same period in 2023. The number of collisions has also increased from 47 at this time last year to 64 in 2024.
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy asked Ms Mcentee to provide a breakdown of the number of road traffic gardai each year from 2019 to 2024.
The Fine Gael TD confirmed at the end of March 2024, there were 631 gardai attached to roads policing duty. This included 61 sergeants and six inspectors.
The number of gardai attached to roads policing duty has steadily fallen over the last number of years.
In 2019, there were 723 Gardaí on roads duty. This increased to 733 in 2020 and 736 in 2021. However, after 2021, the numbers started to fall. They decreased to 692 in 2022 and 632 in 2023. The number of higher-ranking gardai in the roads division has also plummeted. There were 10 inspectors attached to roads policing duty in 2019. This has now fallen to six. Similarly, there were 85 sergeants in 2019. At the end of March 2024, there were just 61. Ms Mcentee said Garda management has told her the distribution of resources is “under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities.” She said: “The Garda Commissioner has recently confirmed that all uniform gardai will undertake 30 minutes of high visibility roads policing in each tour of duty. “There are still too many people willing to drive without due care, be that by speeding, driving recklessly, being distracted, perhaps by using a mobile phone, or driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. “number of additional gardai.”