THE GOVERNMENT has approved the appointment of two assistant Garda commissioners despite the moratorium on promotions or recruitment to the force. The two promotions, which are to the third most senior Garda rank, were approved at yesterday's Cabinet meeting.
The decision followed talks between Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern and Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan, where it was agreed money would be made available for the promotions.
The officers involved are Det Chief Supt John O'Mahoney, who is the current head of the Criminal Assets Bureau, and Chief Supt Kieran Kenny, who is in charge of the Sligo division.
There are currently vacancies at assistant commissioner rank in the Dublin Metropolitan Region and the South Eastern Region.
Following the promotions of Mr Kenny and Mr O'Mahoney, the Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy is expected to reshuffle some of his assistant commissioners in the weeks ahead.
It will not be known until then where the two newly-promoted men will be assigned.
Mr Ahern yesterday said An Garda Síochána was not experiencing a "brain drain" despite a significant rise in the numbers taking early retirement.
He insisted the investigation into practices at Anglo Irish Banks was not being hampered because a detective superintendent vacancy had not been filled in the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation (GBFI).
He also expressed his concern at figures published by The Irish Times on Monday that revealed prisoners tested positive for drugs in jails 9,000 times last year.
Speaking at the opening of a new Garda station in Finglas, Dublin, Mr Ahern denied the trebling so far this year of Garda early retirement rates represented a "crisis".
Some 579 members have taken early retirement this year compared with 243 in all of last year.
The figures have increased because many gardaí fear their gratuity payments, awarded tax-free on retirement, will be taxed in the months ahead because of the recession.
Some 22 superintendents have taken early retirement, almost 15 per cent of the rank.
There are now vacancies at superintendent level in the GBFI, Criminal Assets Bureau and in the Dublin districts of Tallaght-Crumlin and Store Street, which cover areas affected by gangland crime.
Mr Ahern said the vacancy in GBFI was not undermining the investigation by the fraud squad in AIB.
"The Garda Commissioner [ Fachtna Murphy] put in an extra five guards into that [ investigation] in recent times.
"None of the issues in relation to filling positions are causing any difficulty," the Minister said.
As well as the superintendents' vacancies, more than 250 members of garda, sergeant, inspector and superintendent rank had been selected for promotion this year but have not been promoted because of the moratorium.
Mr Ahern said he was in talks with the Department of Finance with a view to securing the money needed to fill some vacancies.
"But there is a moratorium. We can't just fill vacancies all over the place, that's the truth of it.
"It falls into the context of the financial circumstances we find ourselves in," he added.
Mr Ahern said he was concerned that so many drug tests carried out in the prison system last year were positive. "It's an indication of what's going on in our prison population and in our criminal population.
"It's a scourge on this society. Thornton Hall will be the answer to a lot of the difficulties that pertain in the prisons."
