Like other policing problems, public order policing will not be solved without increasing Garda training capacity – Matt Carthy TD

Speaking as Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan was set to brief the cabinet on extensive changes to public order policing, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Matt Carthy TD, said that changes needed to be done in conjunction with significantly increasing the garda training capacity.

Teachta Carthy said:

“Minister Jim O’Callaghan is briefing the Cabinet on changes to public order policing today. This is to be welcomed. The Dublin riots saw a clear failure of policing in the city and members of An Garda Síochána were left vulnerable and put in real danger as law and order broke down. The government had failed to ensure we had the numbers of gardaí that were needed or the capacity to properly curtail serious outbreaks of public disorder.

“Never again can we allow Gardaí to be put in danger like this or for communities, business and the public to be exposed to such a situation.

“Underpinning all the challenges that we face in policing across the state is a shortage of gardaí. Yes, we need to have a properly resourced and trained public order unit, but equally important is ensuring we have the gardaí to police our towns and cities to ensure things do not escalate to the point that it becomes necessary to deploy the public order unit.

“To make our cities, towns and rural communities safe, we need a significant ramping up of the number of gardaí that are being trained every year. That requires a plan from Minister O’Callaghan to increase garda training capacity.

“I would also have a concern that in the absence of such a plan, a large proportion of new gardaí are directed to Dublin while other parts of the state, including rural towns and villages, do not have sufficient gardaí including too many rural stations left without an assigned garda.”