Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That is an interesting statistic the Minister has given. On a rough sketch of the numbers an increase from 0.5 % to 0.7% means an additional 280 gardaí retiring if the overall number is 14,000. Figures available from An Garda Síochána state that approximately 400 to 450 retire yearly and the number of new recruits is simply not covering the number of gardaí retiring. Furthermore, we have a significant issue in retention. While six to eight gardaí used to leave per year, those numbers are leaving every few months. In particular, a number seem to be leaving the Dublin region and others are resisting a transfer to the area. I recently heard of four newly recruited gardaí in Wicklow leaving around the same time. Gardaí who resign cite a number of reasons but top of the pile are a lack of work-life balance, expectations not matching the reality, and an increase year on year in the level of bureaucracy and paperwork they have to undertake.

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