Garda pay raised in council

The council is to write to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe, to demand that the entry scale for garda pay is increased.

Fine Gael’s TP O’Reilly proposed the move after hearing a response from the office of the Minister for Justice outlining that as of the end of March 2023, there were just over 14,000 garda members in Ireland, and a further 3,130 garda staff. It added that the government had provided funding for 1,000 new gardaí this year, with more recruits graduating from Templemore every 11 weeks.

Cllr O’Reilly said An Garda SÍochána needed to “up their numbers dramatically” and in order to do that the career should be made more attractive.