Maximum sentences to increase for assaults causing harm to gardaí, emergency workers

A person convicted of assaulting a Garda member, or other emergency service worker, could face a longer prison sentence on conviction under proposals being brought to Cabinet by Minister for Justice Simon Harris TD.

Mr Harris’s announcement that he is to seek an increase in maximum sentences for assaults on emergency workers comes as he, and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, come under pressure over a number of recent assaults on gardaí. His announcement also comes just hours before the commissioner is due to meet the Garda representative bodies to hear their concerns about the violence being directed at members on the streets.

The maximum sentence for assault causing harm to an emergency worker – including ramming of Garda cars, ambulances and other State vehicles – would increase from 10 years at present to 12 years under Mr Harris’s plan.

“I want to change the law to ensure that the we, the people’s representatives, send a very clear message that attacks on members of An Garda Síochána will not be tolerated and will be dealt with robustly by a law that provides for longer sentences,” Mr Harris said.

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“We do this to provide greater protection to the Gardai, to show solidarity with them and respect for them and to ensure the laws are in place to take a very tough approach to any attacks on them in their line of work.”

However, the Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents about 12,000 rank and file gardaí in a force of 14,000, said it wants mandatory minimum sentences introduced rather than increasing the possible maximum sentence. It said any increase in maximum sentencing would only give a judge the option of imposing additional years and, in reality, judges could still exercise their discretion and impose whatever sentence they see fit.

However, the GRA said if mandatory minimum sentences were introduced, every person convicted of assaulting and harming a Garda member, or other emergency workers, would be guaranteed to receive a custodial sentence, introducing a significant deterrent.

The commissioner was on Monday afternoon due to meet the Garda representative associations to discuss their calls for the establishment of a taskforce to address their concerns. The representative bodies, including the GRA and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), want to see Garda recruitment ramped up as they believed declining Garda numbers over the last three years have left members vulnerable on the streets.

They are also seeking better equipment, including body-worn cameras, and more training for gardaí as well as mandatory minimum sentencing for those who attack emergency workers.

The move to increase the maximum sentence for assaults causing harm to gardaí comes as the maximum sentence of assault causing harm – where members of the public are victims – is increasing from five years to ten years. That change is part of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022, which is currently progressing through the Oireachtas.