Officers quitting at alarming rate
THE number of gardaí resigning from the force is surpassing the number joining, as the garda recruitment crisis deepens.
Last month, 13 officers resigned compared to 12 retirements, a scenario that a source said was previously ‘unheard of’.
The number of gardaí who have so far resigned this year stands at 135 – already almost 30 more than last year’s record high of 107.
And the Garda Commissioner’s monthly report shows that rankand-file numbers have dropped to their lowest point in six years.
The report also confirmed the overall number is at its lowest in more than five years.
The number of gardaí dropped to a new low at the end of September, of 13,880, including just 11,050 rank-and-file members. A batch of 126 new recruits, taken on earlier this month, would have pushed the figure closer to 14,000, but more resignations and retirements will drive this number down again.
It represents a significant decline from the 14,750 members of the force recorded in March 2020, and is the lowest number since August 2018, when there were 13,378 gardaí.
Responding to the latest numbers, Association of Garda Sergeant and Inspectors (AGSI) general secretary Antoinette Cunningham said this week: ‘Garda numbers dropped to a new low at the end of September, a strength of 13,880 brings the overall garda strength to its lowest for more than five years’.
Ms Cunningham said the figures reflect ‘recruitment and retention issues’ the representative body has ‘raised for some time’.
She added: ‘More and more being asked of less gardaí is unsustainable.’
As the number of resignations continues to rise to unprecedented levels, morale issues have also seeped into senior garda ranks.
This week, it emerged that not one of the eight assistant garda commissioners has applied for the role of Deputy Commissioner in charge of Policing Operations, which will become vacant in December, when officer Anne Marie McMahon retires.
One of the reasons for this is that senior gardaí face huge tax bills on their pensions, following the introduction of new exchequer regulations, but sources said it is also an indication of morale issues now impacting on the country’s most senior gardaí.