Lack of new gardaí being deployed to Cork adding to drug problem in city, Dáil hears
Less than 3% of new garda recruits have been deployed to Cork which is exacerbating a drug crisis in the city, the Dáil has heard.
Calls have been made on the Government to increase the number of gardaí deployed and to end a recruitment embargo which has lead to significant gaps in drug addiction services.
Raising the ever-growing problem of heroin in Cork city with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Sinn Féin's Jonathan O'Brien said:
This crisis has seen drug paraphernalia and used needles being found in schoolyards and residential areas to such a degree that a young child recently picked up a bag of heroin from the garden of his home.
Mr O'Brien told the Dáil that just 69 of the 2,800 new garda recruits have been sent to Cork city.
It comes after the reported that on one Saturday night there were just two gardaí available to patrol the city centre area.
"This is the second largest city in the State and only two gardaí were available.
"There has been an increase in crime, particularly drug-related crime, and we are seeing an increase in burglaries and aggravated assaults. Despite this, we have fewer gardaí," said Mr O'Brien.
On one hand, there are significant gaps in the drug addiction services being provided, while on the other hand there is a lack of gardaí. We are hit with a double whammy and the situation is reaching a crisis point.
The Cork North Central TD said he had spoken to service providers within the city who believe the main problem is not a lack of financial resources but the recruitment of staff.
"Services in our city are in an absolute state because they cannot recruit staff as a result of the embargo. There are posts that have been waiting to be filled since last February. The failure to fill those posts has unfortunately resulted in services being stepped down.
"The only victims in this situation are the addicts who are crying out for these services."
Responding the Taoiseach said funding for additional services was increased to €100m in 2018.
"Whatever can be said about the health service, there is certainly no restriction or recruitment embargo in place in respect of An Garda Síochána," he said.
"There has been a very significant increase in the number of gardaí in the country in recent years. There are approximately 14,000 now and that figure will increase to 21,000, including other staff, over the coming years. As a result of this, there has been an increase in the numbers in Cork.
"There will be a further increase as gardaí are recruited and attested in the period to come," said Mr Varadkar but added that decisions on deployment are a matter for the Garda Commissioner.
