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'Concerning' Staffing Levels In Garda Drug Unit

Tuesday, 23 May 2023 06:33

By Kamron Clarke X @kamron_clarke

One of the units has just one member.

The Laois/Offaly Drugs Unit has the fewest members in the country.

Figures from the Gardaí, released to Independent Laois Offaly TD Carol Nolan show the unit has just one member, compared to 332 Gardaí in Divisional Drug teams around the country.

The unit in Westmeath has seven members, including a Sergeant.

The Dublin Metropolitan Region North Central unit has the largest allocation of Gardaí in the country, at 29 - that also includes three sergeants.

Laois Offaly TD Brian Stanley says it's very concerning if Gardaí don't have the resources to tackle this issue:

Laois Offaly TD Carol Nolan says:

"This data makes it absolutely clear that the constituency is profoundly under-resourced when it comes to staff members being assigned to the Divisional Drugs Unit.

Why is it that Laois/Offaly is the only Divisional Drug Unit in the entire country with just one Garda assigned to this role? Apart from Wexford we are also the only counties without any member at the rank of Sergeant attached to the Drugs Unit. This is entirely unacceptable.

There are 332 members assigned to the various Divisional Drugs Unit’s and yet here we are with just one member assigned. I want answers on this and I mean to get them as a matter of urgency.

Offaly and Laois no more than most other counties are struggling to respond to the social and criminal harm caused by the sale and consumption of illegal drugs. We deserve to be properly resourced in the fight against drugs."

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