Overall manpower reduced by 30% in four years even as the drugs trade grows in size and profitability.
The strength of local Garda drug units has been axed by 30% in the last four years.
And the resumption of recruitment over the last year has resulted in just four extra gardaí.
Busy divisions, like Dublin South, Dublin West, Limerick and Wexford, have been hard hit, while two divisions — Cavan/Monaghan and Laois/Offaly — have no drug officers.
Official statistics show that 21 of the 28 garda divisions have had their drug-unit strength reduced since 2011.
The figures, provided in a reply to a parliamentary question, show a drop of 28% in the strength of the divisional drug units, from 359 at the close of 2011, to 257 at the end of 2015. This is up just four from the end of 2014.
“The organisation, as a whole, has lost five million police hours per annum since 2010,” said a spokesman for the Garda Representative Association.
“What we are seeing, with the divisional drug units, is just part of that bigger picture.” He said one out of every six guards who has retired since 2010 has not been replaced.
Source: Cormac O'Keeffe, Irish Examiner, 06/01/16
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