Gardaí wait up to four years for high-speed pursuit training

Of the more than 14,000 members of An Garda Síochána, around 4,000 have level 2 driver training, which allows gardaí to use blue lights and sirens.

The lack of training is having a significant impact on the ability of gardaí to carry out their roles, according to Garda Representative Association (GRA) president Mark O’Meara.

He said there is “a proposed attempt to encourage untrained members to respond to incidents under a proposed pursuit policy”. 

This means untrained members are required to make a dynamic risk assessment when responding to incidents and use the Garda decision-making model to justify their decision.

Mr O’Meara, a divisional representative for the Garda College, said this approach is exposing Garda members and the public to danger and without proper training the decisions made can be fundamentally flawed.

The GRA has continuously raised the lack of driver training with Garda management and called for meaningful engagement on the matter, Mr O’Meara said.

With a waiting list in excess of three to four years, Green Party TD Patrick Costello said the situation highlights the difficulties being faced in getting An Garda Síochána to full strength.

“It is a vicious cycle that is not being acknowledged,” he said. 

We need gardaí to be on the frontline but they need to be trained so they can adequately respond to incidents. 

Part of the issue in getting members trained is that their daily role needs to be backfilled while they take the relevant courses but numbers are stretched, said Mr Costello.

In an effort to address this, the three-week level 2 training course was adapted to become a two-week course but, according to Mr O’Meara, this has resulted in an increase in failure rates.

Another move to provide training without removing a member from their post sees all eligible trainees receive level 1 training before leaving college at Templemore.

This initiative was introduced in July and qualifies the driver to carry out non-response and routine driving functions.

According to figures from the Department of Justice, just 436 gardaí underwent level 3 training in the past 10 years, with no one completing the course in 2015. This qualification allows for driving of higher powered vehicles.

Mr O’Meara said that while there has been a welcome increase in the number of instructors, there are 10 who are newly qualified but waiting to be appointed.

An Garda Síochána was contacted for comment.