Sinn Féin spokesperson on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Matt Carthy TD said that, while he welcomed the move by the Minister for Justice to free Gardaí up from court duties, this would not make up for the failure to increase the Garda training intake.

Teachta Carthy said:

“I will welcome any move that frees up Gardaí to serve in communities, including the suggestion by the Minister for Justice to reduce the times officers spend in court by enabling digitalisation and remote hearings at district court level. However, the Minister needs to go beyond announcing measures and move to delivery. Many people will wonder why this measure hasn’t been actioned before now considering the lack of Gardaí available to police our streets has been an obvious issue.

“However, even if this move now happens, it is not going to solve the shortage that we have in terms of Gardaí, including specifically community gardaí, on our streets.

“We saw this week how the lack of gardai and the lack of garda visibility has serious consequences. It impacts on people’s sense of safety, on deterrence and on crime prevention. We saw a rise in crime figures, particularly in burglaries, and also the number of crimes by committed by those on bail. We know that there were less Gardaí at the end of 2024 than when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael came to office in June 2020 despite an increase in the population.

“While Jim O’Callaghan said today he is optimistic that the government would reach its target of 1,000 new Garda recruits by the end of the year, the Garda Commissioner has pointed out that the maximum number that can be trained is 800.“It is clear that the intake capacity for Garda training must be increased. The Minister needs to bring forward plan for additional training places to deliver the numbers required.”