Staffing of Garda drug units ‘down 28%’ since 2011

Staffing of Garda drug units has fallen by almost a third in the past five years, official figures show.

The number of officers assigned to the specialist drug squads has been cut from 359 in 2011 to 257 last year – a reduction of 28 per cent. All parts in the country have been affected, with some Garda divisions in Dublin having seen staffing levels in their drug units halved since 2011.

The figures, compiled by Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan, were released by Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald in response to a parliamentary question from Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Niall Collins.

The data shows the number of gardaí working on drug crime in Dublin has fallen from 147 in 2011 to 115 last year. The Dublin South division saw its unit cut from 31 officers to 16, while nine gardaí have been assigned to other duties in Dublin West.

The dedicated drug squad in the Cavan-Monaghan Garda district had eight officers in 2011 but had none last year. Wexford has only one garda working on drugs offences, down from 11 in 2011, while Limerick has seen its numbers halved from 20 to 10 in the same period.

‘Appalling indictment’

Mr Collins said the figures were an “appalling indictment” of the Government’s attitude to drug crime and claimed the Coalition’s policies had worsened the “drugs crisis”.

“You only have to walk through any of our cities or towns to see that drug abuse is on the rise. The drugs racket is . . . more profitable than ever but instead of addressing this catastrophe, this . . . Government has been pulling resources away from tackling the problem at a dramatic rate,” he said.

Mr Collins called for “a strong programme of measures”, starting with the reinstatement of fully-resourced drug units in all divisions.

In her response, Ms Fitzgerald said the commissioner was responsible for the distribution of personnel within the force.

She said Garda management kept that distribution under review so as to ensure the best use of resources.