Garda numbers in Kildare South 'have remained the same since 2020', Dáil hears

A Kildare South TD has stated that the number of gardai in Kildare South “has remained the same since 2020”, despite “repeated PR attempts to convey a different story.”

Labour Party Deputy Mark Wall was speaking in the Dáil this week when 'An Garda Síochána: Motion [Private Members]' came before the House.

Deputy Wall began his contribution by first welcoming students from the National Learning Network in his hometown of Athy, who joined the debate.

Speaking in the Dáil, the Kildare South TD said he joined with the Minister in thanking all serving garda members “for the job they do on behalf of us day in and day out, 24-7.”

Unfortunately, Deputy Wall stated, morale within An Garda Síochána is very poor at the moment, which he said is directly related to the recruitment of gardaí.

“In my own constituency of Kildare South, the number of gardaí has remained the same since 2020 despite repeated PR attempts to convey a different story”, Deputy Wall said.

“Currently, there are 147 gardaí across the Kildare division in Athy, Castledermot, Kildare town, Monasterevin, Newbridge and Rathangan. Since 2020, the number of gardaí in Kildare town has decreased by one, Athy remains unchanged at 34 and Newbridge has only increased by one. The overall figure across all stations in County Kildare is still 147. This is in addition to 37 retirements across the Kildare-Carlow division from 2021 to 2025.”

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Deputy Wall said that “more worryingly”, in recent months is that community policing across the Kildare-Carlow division decreased from 31 in May 2025 to just 21 in December 2025.

He pointed out that Kildare is a county that has had a population increase to 250,000, with the lack of garda visibility in the county creating “serious problems” in its large towns and villages.

He welcomed the fact, he said, that the Minister is concentrating on visibility, but this needed to speed up and include the counties that border Dublin.

“This needs to happen very quickly”, he said.

“I also want to mention roads policing. In December 2025 we had 647 gardaí in our roads policing division, compared with 1,046 in 2009. The reason I bring that up, and not for the first time, is the traffic and commuter chaos that happens every morning on the way into the capital and the lack of visibility of gardaí on those stretches of road is very worrying.

“I have spoken to gardaí in County Kildare on this matter over the past six months and they all tell me that once an accident happens, their personnel are tied up for hours on end. This is happening almost every day, so we need to see an increase in Garda numbers in our roads policing division. We need to see visibility on our commuter routes into Dublin each morning.”

Concluding, Deputy Wall said he supports the calls regarding domestic violence, as “in 20 years of public service, in my office, I have never before seen such worrying growth in domestic violence on a daily basis. We need to do more.”