THE GARDA COMMISSIONER has said he would have been “more than happy” to attend the Garda Representative Association (GRA) annual congress, but was not invited.

Claims that Drew Harris has lost the dressing room when it comes to support among rank-and-file gardaí were compounded when it was revealed the representative body for the workforce decided not to invite him to their yearly conference this year.

In a statement, which responds to many of the concerns highlighted by the GRA at their meeting this year, Harris said that he met with the the group before their annual meeting to discuss a wide-range of issues.

The Garda Commissioner said he also previously had “positive engagements” with the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), the body which represents garda management, about the mitigation measures which the commissioners have taken to respond to issues highlighted by rank-and-file members.

He said, after feedback, the measures included new roster rotations, stronger pepper spray and bodycam proof-of-concept provided to all gardaí as well as increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62 as well as the garda trainee allowance.

These measures were taken as the GRA has for months been highlighting the issues with recruitment and retention for new gardaí, morale within the force as well as opposition to decisions to suspend colleagues for long periods of time.

In his statement, Harris conceded that resignations have increased within the force but that the rates within An Garda Síochána are still around 1%, much lower than the international average of 10% in other forces.

He added that four classes of garda trainees will pass through the Templemore Garda College this year and that 120 existing members have extended their contracts already this year. There were more than 6,300 applications to join gardaí last year, Harris said.

Within the force, 668 rank-and-file gardaí have been promoted to sergeant and 179 people have been promoted to inspector in the last two years.

Harris said: “In the main, the general view was not one of concern that the Garda Síochána is facing a retention ‘crisis’ or an ‘exodus’ of good people.”

On suspensions, the Garda Commissioner said that 96 gardaí are currently suspended, down from 115 in 2022. Two suspensions have been issued this year, for off-duty conduct only, while 14 suspensions have been lifted.

Harris pointed to a Police Authority report that shows that “there is not low morale in the organisation” within An Garda Síochána. The Garda Commissioner said the report was conducted based on thousands of responses from other gardaí.

Elsewhere, he pointed to changes to the internal IT systems, rolling out to all gardaí, that provide more information to members who are attending various calls throughout their shift.