As part of a “significant” boost in funding for the Irish Prison Service, the Government intends to hire up to 350 additional prison staff members, reports RTE.
It is a component of the €3.9 billion Justice Sector Package that was unveiled with Budget 2025.
Along with it, up to 1,000 more gardaí and up to 150 civilian staff members will be hired.
But in the wake of today’s revelation, the Garda Representative Association (GRA) has sharply condemned the Government’s performance on garda numbers, reports RTE.
The GRA stated that, despite its expectations of 800–1,000 new recruits by year’s end, they will only have 700, which, it added, “barely covers the losses through retirements and resignations.”
Ronan Slevin, General Secretary of the GRA, stated that “what it means is that garda strength has actually fallen over the past three years, regularly dipping below the 14,000 mark instead of reaching the 15,000-16,000 numbers promised by successive budgets”, reports RTE.
The GRA claimed that “so much more” could have been done by the government, including increasing pension payments, subsidising health insurance for all members, increasing allowances for trainees, housing allowances for members deployed to large cities during their initial years of service, and incremental rewards for members with long service.
The Association said that rank and file gardaí “will not hold our breath” in the wake of today’s statement, accusing the government of providing “lip service”, reports RTE.
Meanwhile, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe has also promised a “significant” increase in the international protection processing system, including the appointment of 400 new people.
According to him, additional €7 million would be given to organisations that help victims of gender-based sexual assault and domestic abuse, reports RTE.
The minister also said that the Defence Forces will get €1.35 billion in financing in addition to this.
This would facilitate the progress of significant modernisation initiatives for defence hardware and facilities.
Among them is a better Defence Forces outfit.
In the meanwhile, money would be spent on recruitment advertisements in an effort to enlist, train, and assist a net increase of 400 additional members of the Defence Forces in the upcoming year, reports RTE.
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