Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, at the launch of the Home Safety Pack at the Navan Travellers Workshop last week. The project was formed as a result of funding received by the Community Safety Innovation Fund and the Department of Justice.Photo: David Mullen/www.cyberimages.net

Garda numbers are increasing in Meath: McEntee

Ann Casey

Published: Fri 27 Oct 2023, 9:53 AM

Last updated: Fri 27 Oct 2023, 9:54 AM

Meath Garda numbers are increasing and will continue to increase, according to Justice Minister, Helen McEntee. She has pointed out that seven new gardai joined the force in Meath from last week's new Garda graduates.

"There will be another group of new graduates in three months time and this will continue," she said. "There are 177 in that next class and Meath will see its fair share of those."

The Minister said that while numbers may be down since 2020, there has been an increase from 2014/2015.

She pointed out that when she took over as Minister for Justice, the Garda College was closed and there was nothing could be done about recruiting new gardai.

"While we had 318 gardai in Meath in August, we now have 331. We also have 28 CAB Asset Profilers in the Meath Westmeath division who work with the gardai supporting them and identifying people involved in organised crime. There are also 45 civilian staff in Meath."

She said she was aware of the challenges in Navan and had met with business owners, gardai and the local authority. "There are a number of actions the local authority can take as well as having more gardai on the ground."

"What people want is to see Gardai on the beat, but we need to populate all garda roles. The numbers of gardai increasing and will continue to do so," she said.