Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the Garda could continue to recruit beyond the planned 15,000 officer limit in the wake of a patrol car being rammed in Cherry Orchard.
She was responding to a serving garda’s claim that a lack of new recruits is leaving massive shortages. Car thieves ran amok in Ballyfermot, West Dublin, in three stolen vehicles last Monday evening.
One of the cars rammed a Garda patrol twice, with two female officers inside. With current strength at 14,318 officers Mrs McEntee yesterday admitted there are “not enough gardai”.
Read more: Fed up residents consider human 'blockade' on bridge to stop everyday violence
She was speaking on Newstalk’s On The Record, where she responded to a text from a serving officer. The minister said: “You have absolutely wonderful people doing a wonderful job and my job is to make sure we have more of those people.
There’s not enough gardai full stop. I’ve never said there is and I think we need to keep going even beyond the 15,000 target that I and others have very clearly said we want to get to.
“It’s about making sure gardai have the resources that they need. I would suggest them having body- worn cameras, which we hope to have rolled out and piloted next year, will be hugely helpful for protection as well as other types of ways in which it will help them solve crime.
“I’ll have a bill enacted by the end of this year, greater legislation around scramblers. All of these types of things help and assist gardai in their job.”
The car thieves are aged from 12 upwards and officers believe they are being paid by close associates of a local gang boss to cause havoc. The gardai who were in the patrol car were assessed by medics and are now off duty due to their injuries.
Det Garda Mark Ferris, the Garda Representative Association’s spokesman for Dublin West, said: “Both are doing well. They each informed the GRA local representative of their gratitude to those checking in on them.
“They’ve also said they want to thank everyone for their well wishes.” Det Garda Ferris told how he is aware extra personnel have been drafted in to help police the area.
But he added: “We hope there will be a further permanent – rather than temporary – increase in numbers deployed to alleviate frontline gardai. We again ask management initiate immediate training for CBD2 driving for all frontline members, and also the re-certification of members in the use of non-lethal force protective [pepper spray and ASP] training.
“In recent years some of our members have been injured on duty during similar car ramming attacks in Ballyfermot. What happened on Monday was not an isolated incident. It is time for a conversation about law, order, policing and sentencing on this reckless criminality."
Read next:
Huge government update on Dublin's controversial €25m whitewater rafting project
City centre locals 'terrified' to leave home after man hit with wooden plank
Car ban on South William Street a step closer after inclusion in development plan
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
