A new trial initiative will provide tasers to 128 frontline uniformed gardaí.
The pilot is set to run across Dublin Central, Waterford and Kilkenny, reports RTE.
The six-month scheme will operate in tandem with the expanding use of body-worn cameras, and only officers fitted with these devices will receive tasers.
Although police forces globally make routine use of tasers, in Ireland they have so far been limited to members of the Garda’s specialised armed support unit, reports RTE.
Advocates for the initiative highlight that between 2014 and 2024 an average of 299 gardaí suffered assaults each year.
Critics, including the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), insist the plan is troubling, arguing that international studies show tasers can worsen situations, especially when individuals are in mental health distress, reports RTE.
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan presented the proposal to the Government earlier today.
Tánaiste Simon Harris stated that tasers can serve an important function in certain circumstances, reports RTE.
Arriving at this morning’s Cabinet meeting, he remarked that “brave men and women who put on their uniform every day are often faced now with increased levels of abuse on the streets, levels of attacks”.
Mr Harris noted that gardaí have traditionally operated without weapons and affirmed: “We wish that to be continued, but tasers in certain instances can play an important role”, reports RTE.
Despite this, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties reiterated its deep concern over plans to issue tasers to frontline officers.
In a statement, ICCL Executive Director Joe O’Brien said: “Ireland has a proud tradition of over 100 years of unarmed gardaí serving and supporting local communities”, reports RTE.
The organisation warned that tasers are inherently dangerous and would fundamentally alter the dynamic between communities and gardaí.
It said: “International research shows that tasers can cause devastating physical injuries and psychological trauma, include cardiac arrhythmias, muscle damage and electric burns”, reports RTE.
The ICCL further cautioned that, “internationally, tasers have been repeatedly used against people experiencing mental health crises and in extreme cases have led to death. Tasers are not an effective de-escalation tool in all situations. In fact, international evidence has shown that they can escalate a situation, particularly when people are experiencing mental health crises.”
Mr O’Brien added: “There appears to be a pattern of Government equipping gardaí with new tools on a pilot basis, then moving swiftly to a national roll-out, without independent assessment of whether the tool is working to achieve its intended purpose”, reports RTE.
“The body worn cameras pilot has become what ICCL warned against – an opening to introduce new technology nationwide, without publishing pilot findings or carefully weighing up the evidence for and against”, reports RTE.
“We in ICCL are clear: tasers are not the Christmas gift gardaí need”, reports RTE.
Garda Representative Association Vice President Niall Hodgins said the move to deploy tasers to frontline officers is “very welcomed”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s News At One, Mr Hodgins said: “We have been calling for them for a number of years… today is a good news day for the guards”, reports RTE.
“The great thing about these tasers is that they can very much contribute to the deescalation of the more violent and aggressive encounters that our members are experiencing year-on-year”, reports RTE.
Mr Hodgins noted there were nearly 1,000 incidents of assaults on gardaí last year, with about 300 classified as “serious”, reports RTE.
“Even without firing, it [tasers] can seriously contribute to the reduced risk of injury to our members and can be a very effective tool on very resistant individuals, who unfortunately, we are coming up against every day in our line of work”, reports RTE.
Mr Hodgins added that the six-month taser pilot will “seriously increase” both safety and tactical options during “the very high stress options we have to deal with”, reports RTE.
“Our members in the frontline are facing these antagonists day in, day out and it is their courage… which is taking action in the face of fear. What we would say, is if mistakes are made within that six-month pilot… we will review it, we will sit down as we have done before with the riots we experienced in Saggart, Coolock and the Dublin city riots. If mistakes are made, well then we can address them,” he said, reports RTE.
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