There are just 303 sworn Gardaí in the county currently for a population of over 220,000

There are fewer gardai in Meath today than in 2009 and Meath continues to have the lowest number of gardai per head of population.

A Meath Joint Policing Committee (JPC) meeting heard this week that there are just 303 sworn Gardaí in the county. In 2009, when recent records began, Meath had 315 Gardaí.

Deputy Darren O'Rourke, who attended the meeting said: “Garda numbers in Meath have gone from bad to worse under the stewardship of Minister Helen McEntee.”

Minister McEntee said she was acutely aware that Meath was below where it should be in terms of Garda numbers, but Meath will benefit from increased recruitment and outside of Dublin, had the highest number of new recruits allocated last year.

Deputy O’Rourke said “Meath's position as the county with the lowest number of gardaí per head of population has been cemented under Minister Helen McEntee.

“It was confirmed at the JPC that Meath has just 303 sworn gardaí. Incredibly, this is down from 318 late last year. The Superintendent confirmed that media reports of 331 Gardaí in Meath in October last year were based on erroneous figures.

“This is nothing short of a disgrace and tells us that, despite a significant growth in population in the county and a growing sense of unease amongst local people and businesses here, Garda numbers in the county are lower than 2009 when Meath had 315 gardaí.”

“The latest census showed Co Meath is one of the fastest growing counties in the country.

“The county's population grew by 13 per cent to 220,826 between 2016 and 2022. In 2009, the county's population was approximately 177,000.”

Deputy O'Rourke said we know that there are increased incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour in the county.

“Importantly, it is well documented that local people and businesses in the county feel less safe. The lack of Gardaí visibility on the beat plays no small part in this, in my opinion. Having sufficient gardaí and deploying them to frontline duties is absolutely essential.

“In Meath, we have long been the county with the lowest number of gardaí per head of population. That position is cemented now under Minister Helen McEntee. That position remains unchanged and unexplained. To me, there is no logical rhyme nor reason why Meath should have the lowest number of gardaí per head of population. It makes no sense.

“We know that Covid interrupted training but it is inexcusable that Garda numbers in Meath are so low, now below 2009 levels. We know attrition due to retirement is increasing. More worrying, we know that resignations are at an all time high.

The Commissioner, Minister and Government must respond to address this. In the case of Meath, they must also address the acute shortage of gardaí and explain why Meath is such an outlier.”

Minister McEntee said that despite receiving the highest number of new gardai outside of Dublin last year, Meath is still “playing catch up.”

“There is good news in that 6,300 people applied in the most recent Garda recruitment campaign, compared to 5,000 in the previous campaign so the appetite is there and Meath will benefit.

“There is also a recruitment campaign starting for the Garda reserve, which will be a great help at times like match days, for road policing and helping with anti-social behaviour.”

Minister McEntee said she wanted to acknowledge the great job the Meath gardai are doing in what is a very busy county.