Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This morning we heard from the Garda Representative Association, GRA, conference that one in four gardaí may be suffering from work-related stress or trauma. That is according to a survey carried out by the GRA. The survey, carried out by psychotherapist Dr. Finian Fallon, described 27% of those who responded as potentially walking wounded. Just over 2,200 gardaí responded to an email survey. There was a response rate of 38%, with two thirds of respondents male and one third female.

This is the second survey of people in uniform which shows that this country is in dire straits. The survey shows that gardaí are frustrated by the amount of paperwork they have to do. They do not feel they have the right equipment or training to do the job properly and that senior managers do not appreciate the challenges they face. That is a damning line.

The GRA has said that the majority of the gardaí are not trained to properly police this State, particularly in areas of roads policing and sexual offences. The organisation, which began its annual conference in Wexford yesterday, points out that detectives who carry guns are not trained in tactics and front-line gardaí are not trained to respond to terrorist incidents. That is damning. I carried weapons for ten years of my life and not being trained regularly in the use of tactics with respect to carrying weapons which have the potential to kill is just unbelievable.

The GRA also said that most rank and file gardaí do not have full driver training qualifications. A vehicle driven at high speed by somebody who is not qualified to drive it is a lethal weapon. The GRA stated that 52 laws have been brought in over the past eight years but not one classroom training event has taken place.It also stated the lack of welfare facilities for traumatised gardaí is of major concern.

The day after the Brexit vote was passed in the United Kingdom, I said a hard Brexit was also an issue, with delegates pointing out that 500 km of border, with 200 crossings, would require 1,000 extra gardaí along the Border. There are no plans in place to do this. We are sleepwalking towards a Brexit that may well be a hard one.

The health of members of the Garda and the absence of training are issues set to dominate the conference today. We really have to start looking after people in uniform. I agree the peace process has taken some of the emphasis off the uniformed services in this country but this is the second set of damning reports. The first concerned the Defence Forces and now the GRA is involved. I have no doubt the AGSI is in exactly the same situation. Senior members of the Garda have, at their conference, pointed out similar issues. We really have to do something about this. I ask the Leader to organise at his convenience a debate in the House with the Minister for Justice and Equality to discuss the Garda, in particular.

I was at a conference in Europe yesterday. It was a conference of the task force on subsidiarity, proportionality and doing less more efficiently. It is headed by Mr. Frans Timmermans. The conference specifically examined how we might get more done in Europe. I am convinced now that local government is not getting enough attention with respect to European directives and laws. There needs to be more interaction with local government. Too many decisions are made by centralised national governments right across the European Union. The conference showed that yesterday. We might also try to organise a debate on how we engage local government more on European affairs.