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LAST UPDATE | 28 Jul 2023
THE JUSTICE MINISTER has announced an emergency extra €10m will be given to the garda organisation to pay for overtime on Dublin’s streets.
The announcement comes as the issue of insufficient numbers of gardaí to respond to calls hit the headlines this week after an assault on US tourist Stephen Termini near Store Street garda station.
Speaking to reporters in Templemore college today, the minister said the funding is being provided to “make sure that we have that permanent presence on the ground”.
The minister also said that she would be happy to meet with Stephen Termini’s family, who arrived in Dublin today, though she said they haven’t engaged with her yet.
McEntee confirmed that she has spoke to the American ambassador after the US Embassy in Ireland issued a warning that all citizens should “be aware of their surroundings, especially when travelling in unfamiliar places, crowded locations, empty street, or at night”.
The controversy about under resourced gardaí has seen political and community leaders criticise the Government, Justice Minister Helen McEntee said she believed that the city was a safe place.
At a public meeting this week Assistant Commissioner Angela Willis, who has responsibility for policing in Dublin, said the force was “down on numbers we would want to have.”
Her comments came after it was revealed earlier this week that the number of gardaí in Dublin’s north inner city is down almost 4% since the start of the year.
The additional funding that will be used to fill a gap in the policing overtime budget to put more Gardaí on patrol in the capital will be made immediately available and will provide for 240,000 extra Garda hours, or 20,000 extra Garda shifts, in the Dublin Metropolitan Region to the end of the year.
Minister McEntee made the announcement while attending the latest Garda graduation ceremony in the Garda College in Templemore.
Speaking today, she said the recruitment into An Garda Síochána is gathering pace, with bigger intakes every 11 weeks.
However, she told reporters at the event that the numbers are not where she would like them to be. Earlier this week, Varadkar said it would be difficult to reach the 1,000 garda recruitment targets for this year.
The minister said there are 87 new recruits graduating today, 135 next week 154 the week after that.
“I’m already confident looking at the numbers for October, that we will start reaching the 200 target [per quarter]. It’s not where I’d like to be, I’d like us to be further ahead at this stage, but if we’re close to 800 this year, I have absolute confidence that we’re going to start reaching those targets of 1,000 come next year,” McEntee said.
Commissioner Drew Harris was not in Templemore for the event, but was represented by deputy Commissioner Ann Marie McMahon today.
On Wednesday, the leadership of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) voted in favour of a ballot of all its members on a vote of no confidence in the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.
When asked today if she ha confidence in Harris, McEntee said:
I have absolute confidence in the Commissioner.
She added:
“I don’t think it’s helpful what has happened in the last few days. I understand there are issues and I understand that the GRA have raised concerns. The most important thing in any job, in any organisation is that you sit around the table and that people have dialogue. And I think that’s the most important thing here.”
The minister said she hopes that is what will happen in the coming weeks, stating that the Garda Commissioner has said he is “very open” to sitting down with unions.
She said she believes that Harris is willing to speak and to listen to the rank-and-file Garda members.
“I know a lot of this has focused on the roster. I know how important that is. I know how important that is to the Commissioner, just for the daily running, the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation.
“I also know how important it is for Garda members, for their families, for that work life balance. So it’s really important that both sides get round the table.”
With reporting by Christina Finn
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Oh no. More cheap sensationalist TV. Why not legalise prostitution, generate some tax revenue, give more protection to sex workers, but most of all make the sordid sexually repressed gits who make these kind of documentaries permanently redundant
legalising onlyempowers the current crop of gangsters controlling it to enflict more misery on their unfortunate, captive assets.
Yeah. Cause its up to RTE to legislate for sex workers. If they didnt make these docs people would complain more so. Sensationalist comment more like.
The only thing full legalisation did in Holland was set a ground for more sex trafficking and forced prostitution, conclusion, it doesnt work.
And the News of the World will be relaunched as the Sun on Sunday soon…
Such hypocrisy. If you’re suspended, you’re suspended. Guess that doesn’t apply to state bodies then.
My ex used have a Prostitute outside the corner of his flat in Cork, the traffic on a friday and saturday night to see her was unbelievable, men in their family cars, the baby-seat in the back, availing of her services. The law needs to start focusing on getting these women off the streets and targeting those who are using prostitutes by naming and shaming. Setting up video surveillance of hot spots so number plates can be registered and those then can be charged for solicitation.
I’ll be interested to see this after reading about that “between the sheets” book the other day and some of the comments on that article. It made me realise that I really don’t know a lot about what these people are experiencing.
My first RTE content in many years incidentally. Guess I’ll deserve to pay the media tax after all…
Are we really expected to believe that most of these women are trafficked and few do this ‘work’ of their own volition?
just look at how many pimps in the UK are Muslims it really shows how Muslim men regard women as nothing more than a possession not much more valuable than a car or a cow.
Prostitution is just damn disgusting!
The people that use the ‘service’ should be named and shamed, they are no better than rapists in my eyes.
i don’t see whats so bad about the nature of prostitution – to me it seems that most of the stigma comes from having to stand on street corners or run a brothel out of an apartment!
i dont see how legalisign it would be that much different to strip clubs (yea i’ve no real issue with those either!) – makes it safer for the girls / guys involved and regulates it in terms of health and safety and most importantly taxes!
I dated a girl in a sunny country far far away. I owned 2 pizzerias and doing very well and she was an18 year old lapdancer. I worked 7 days a week employed 15 staff and payed my taxes. She worked 4 to 5 nights a week at a club payed no taxes and earned almost double of what I earned. She was not a victim of anything nore was she trafficked. She was a good ‘ol home grown girl having a good time. Ireland needs to get out of the dark ages and join reality. Prostitution is one of the safest types of sex anyone can have especially for a guy. No false rape allegations, its always with a condom, she’s not the last drunk girl in a pub and its also probably cheaper than buying a girl drinks all night. Catch a wake up Ireland and all your feminists.
If one legalises prostitution it goes underground. Just look at the Dutch model and recent comments the mayor has said. Also the Swedish model does not work. The turn off the blue light website is run by pimps who think its perfectly ok to write a review on said experience with an escort! Which some believe. 70% of women in prostitution come from a background of rape incest abuse and neglect.
70% I’d say 70% of the whole population have suffered from rape, neglect, incest & abuse.
Has Curran & his cronies resigned from RTE? Who is in charge now ? What checks & balances are there? who has been disciplined? & what monies are they still been paid to these employees I continue to be suspicious of news investigation giving their abuse of broadcasting powers , pathetic apology & the inaction of the RTE board!
We really need to rethink our attitudes to prostitution and hardcore pornography. The former is illegal and completely taboo, while the latter is now legally available to anyone with and internet connection. Of course there is a legal technicality, when it comes to pornography – the actors and actresses are paid to be filmed, not to have sex. Pornographic actors also claim that they pick their partners. But seriously, does anyone really accept this? On the first point, the actresses would not be filmed or paid if they did not have sex. As for the second, prostitutes are actually free to turn away customers.
It makes zero sense for hardcore pornography to be legal and prostitution illegal, and vice versa.
Aranthos. WTF?
@ my politics. Da durty hoar
They’ll find a way out of anything if it makes them money.
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