Garda Commissioner Says Clare Will Get “Its Share” Of Additional Gardai Next Year

Drew Harris © Clare FM

The Garda Commissioner says Clare will get “its share” of the additional 800 Gardai announced in Budget 2022.

Commissioner Drew Harris has been addressing members of this county’s Joint Policing Committee this afternoon.

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Commissioner Harris made a short presentation to committee members today, along with taking questions about policing matters in Clare.

The meeting heard how further progress on the Clare/Tipperary Garda merger is expected in 2022, though the Commissioner stopped short of providing an exact timeline.

Just six further Gardai are in the Clare Division compared to ten years ago, and it’s prompted calls from members for further boots on the ground to be provided here.

800 more Gardai are to be funded in next year’s Budget, and Commissioner Harris believes numbers will be boosted in this county as a result.

The meeting was also told that 22 unanswered domestic violence calls were reported in this county between 2019 and 2020, with those people having received follow up contact from An Garda Siochana since.

Concerns were also raised about the levels of drug dealing in this county and the Midwest region, along with discretionary matters relating to serving members of the Limerick Garda Division who remain suspended from the force.