Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2023
41. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Justice for a breakdown, in tabular form, of the average number of gardaí on "ordinary absence" and "absent due to injury on duty" in each of the Garda regions in Ireland, and at Garda headquarters, in quarter 3 of 2023, and to provide comparative data for the same period in 2020. [55419/23]
View answerI ask the Minister to provide a breakdown, in tabular form, of the average number of gardaí on ordinary absence and those on absence due to injury on duty in each of the Garda districts for quarter 3 of 2023 in comparison with the same period in 2020.
I understand that tables may be provided to the Deputy. What I have here is the breakdown across the Garda regions of the average number of gardaí who were absent because of ordinary illness and those who were absent because they were injured on duty. For quarter 3 of 2019, the figure for ordinary illness was 1,743 and while it has varied in subsequent years, the figure for quarter 3 of 2023 is 1,962. Up until 31 October 2023, the figure was considerably lower, at 830. Obviously the figures vary but one has to look at the way in which they are broken down. The sickness absence management system splits the data into three categories, namely, ordinary illness, occupational illness or injury arising from duty, and critical illness. It is also important to note that while there will be people in any organisation who are out on sick leave, whether it is broken down in that particular way or not, there will always be a number of people, as is the case in An Garda Síochána, who are on career breaks or in work-sharing arrangements as well as on secondment, maternity leave, unpaid maternity leave or paternity leave.
Specifically with regard to people who were injured or out sick, I assure Deputy Daly that we are absolutely committed to protecting the health, safety and welfare of all Garda members and staff. This is reflected in the commitment of an additional €6 million allocated for Garda well-being initiatives, additional medical costs and over 2,500 units of body armour in budget 2024. I am very aware of how stressful the work can be for Garda members. We only have to look at the recent incidents in Dublin city centre for evidence of this. A number of support systems are in place to help gardaí address issues of stress and mental health, including the employee assistance service, as well as trauma counselling and peer support. I know there is more we can do in that regard in particular and I am proactively engaging with the Garda Commissioner and his team to see how I can provide further support for members who are potentially out of work due to stress or related illnesses.
The numbers do not simply reflect the pay and conditions because, as the Minister said, there are increased stresses resulting from having to deal with things like serious road traffic accidents, people having taken their own lives and other types of stressful scenes. Gardaí also feel overstretched, burnt out and that no one has their back. It is interesting to hear the Minister mentioning peer support. Does she have a figure for the number of people who provide peer support to gardaí? What I am hearing suggests that it may not be adequate to deal with the number of gardaí who are feeling under pressure.
I do not have those exact details but I will certainly try to get them for the Deputy. I am very conscious of the distressing scenes that members have to deal with on a daily basis, from road traffic incidents to scenes of suicide, as well as dealing with situations such as those we saw two weeks ago. A number of different measures and supports have been put in place. In fact, from the first meeting I had with the Garda representative associations over three years ago, and every year that I meet with them prior to their annual conferences, this issue comes up. Every year when it comes to budget time, I engage with the Garda Commissioner to see what more can be provided. A new app has been rolled out that enables gardaí to engage confidentially to access counselling supports and other types of information and support if they do not want to engage directly with somebody. That is often a challenge and one that has been relayed to me at a very senior level. There is a feeling that some members do not want to be seen to be seeking help or counselling services. At the same time, I am conscious that there may need to be engagement of a more proactive nature, especially where somebody is dealing with particularly difficult scenes. Again, we want to make sure that we talk about it, communicate and provide the resources and funding that are needed on a continuous basis. We should not be afraid to talk about these types of issues, even if it is within an organisation that was not dealing with them in years gone by.
Much of this comes back to the number of gardaí being attested in Templemore. The Garda Commissioner said a number of weeks ago that the total for this year would be 714 but then last week a figure of between 700 and 800 was mentioned. Does the Minister have a figure for the number of attestations that have been brought forward for this month? Does she have a figure for the total for this year and the number she anticipates will be attesting and entering the Garda College next year? I ask her to revert to me on the issue of peer support and the exact number that will be made available to serving gardaí throughout the State.
I do not have an exact figure for what we will have by the end of the year because the acceptances are still coming in and the offers are still going out for the class that will start on 27 December. I know we will have between 700 and 800 but I do not have the finalised figure yet. We know that between 700 and 800 will have gone into the college this year. What we have always said is that we will have five classes and the 27 December class will obviously be the fifth one. Of course, we want as many trainees as possible to go in to the college this year and next year as well. That is why we will have a new recruitment campaign starting early in the new year. We will get that off the ground and moving on Friday, when I am in Templemore to meet the 150-odd recruits who will come out earlier than planned, about a month ahead of schedule. I commit to coming back to the Deputy information on the peer support numbers overall.
