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From Roscrea to Clare, Gardaí are overstretched - Alan Kelly
'Local Gardaí are burnt out' - Alan Kelly tells Dáil
Roscrea Garda Station
Reporter:
Midland Tribune Reporter
01 Nov 2024 12:33 PM
Email:
roscrea@midlandtribune.ie
The amalgamation of Tipperary and Clare Garda Divisions and the lack of manpower affecting Garda Stations in North Tipperary were highlighted by Labour TD, Alan Kelly in the Dáil last week.
Deputy Kelly said that at times there are only six members of the Gardai on duty to cover a vast Division stretching from East Clare to Roscrea and that Gardaí are "burnt out" trying to cope.
‘We have known about the issues regarding Garda presence across North Tipperary for some time. It comes up in our office every week. There are huge recruitment and retention issues across the country for An Garda Síochána.
"I know of two local people who wanted to join the force and went to their local sergeant for advice. By the time they left, they were no longer interested in joining. I know of a situation in the south east where a number of gardaí just left their jobs and went to Australia", Deputy Kelly said.
"Recently, a member of the force left to join Irish Rail, for better pay and conditions, as I understand it. This issue is ongoing. If the Government does not face up to this we are in serious trouble. The issue is not just in Tipperary and Clare. Pay and conditions and the work culture are massive issues in the force.
"As a division, why Tipperary-Clare was set up is bizarre because it is a logistical nightmare. Many of the gardaí are burnt out. Let us look at a scenario in Roscrea, where there were not enough gardaí.
"A garda went from Newport on secondment for six months to cover Roscrea. Newport to Roscrea is not a short distance but he had to go for six months. That leaves Newport short a garda.
"There is no marked police car in Newport. Roscrea has a 2012 Ford Focus, a community policing car. Killaloe Garda station, which is part of the same Nenagh-Killaloe area, has no marked car", the Tipperary Labour TD said.
"We have the Garda Training College in Templemore. There is currently a position there in the actual Garda room in the college. Hundreds of gardaí have applied for the position, to get away from front-line policing. They do not want to continue given what they have to put up with.
"Members in the division on long-term sick leave are not being replaced because there is no one to replace them. Gardaí are being put into areas where they have no local knowledge, so there is a deficit in actual response times.
"Bureaucracy on small issues is taking up a lot of time. We are taking gardaí from smaller towns and bringing them to bigger towns. Community policing units and crime task-force units are great in theory but when gardaí are being taken for these from front-line policing in stations and the stations are being left vacant, what is the point? We are robbing Peter to pay Paul", he said.
"We have very few foot patrols due to the lack of police on the ground. This is a serious issue in Nenagh, Thurles, Roscrea, Newport, Templemore and everywhere else.
"We have a situation where, on some days of the week, there are six gardaí, two in Newport-Killaloe, two in Nenagh on outside duty and one or two in the Roscrea area. That is not sufficient. When are we all going to wake up?
"This is just referring to the division in my own area. Unless pay and conditions are improved and the job becomes a vocation that people want to get into, we are not going to have the police force we require", Deputy Kelly said.
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