PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE:GARDA COMMISSIONER Fachtna Murphy has said that if the current moratorium on Garda recruitment became prolonged it would have a "very detrimental" impact on the force.

He also said some 270 civilian Garda posts were now vacant, and if these were filled he could release “substantial numbers” of gardaí from administrative work to frontline policing duties.

However, Mr Murphy told a hearing of the Public Accounts Committee yesterday that he was “a realist”.

He understood the economic pressures facing the State, but was hopeful trainee gardaí and civilians would be recruited to the force as soon as possible.

He said Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan and Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern had agreed that some trainee gardaí would be recruited as a concession to the public sector recruitment moratorium.

Advertisements inviting expressions of interests had appeared in newspapers late last week.

“We’ve had 15,000 applications so far and rising,” Mr Murphy told the committee.

Despite the advertisements having appeared in the media, the Government has not yet decided how many gardaí will be recruited, and when that recruitment will begin.

Mr Murphy said a prolonged break in recruitment “for four or five years” would damage the force.

A record 776 members retired last year, mainly because they feared their one-off retirement gratuity would be taxed. However, Mr Murphy said retirements in the current year were running at a quarter of the rate seen last year.

He said retirements and the recruitment moratorium had created vacancies, many in key senior posts. However, he had just secured permission to promote 22 inspectors to the rank of superintendent.

Róisín Shortall TD (Lab) said the Garda overtime and allowances expenditure was high, at €333 million.

Mr Murphy said there was no “overtime culture” in the Garda. He said he needed flexibility in deploying resources because “we don’t have criminals that only work nine to five”.