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There have been 88 incidents of spitting or coughing against gardaí

Gardaí have used spit-guards 63 times since 8 April, according to new figures.

FIGURES RELEASED BY An Garda Síochána show that there have been 88 incidents of people spitting or coughing on Garda members since 8 April.

Between that date and this weekend, Gardaí have had to use anti-spit guards 63 times.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said although the number of incidents were reduced, they were “unacceptable”.

“An Garda Síochána will continue to treat any such incident against a member of An Garda Síochána or any citizen very seriously,” he said.

Gardaí said they had invoked enforcement powers under the Covid-19 Public Health regulations 289 times since that same date- and 13 times in the last week.

An Garda Síochána invoked the Public Health regulations on 6 occasions over the June Bank Holiday weekend out of “thousands” of interactions with the public in open spaces and at checkpoints. 

In order to implement the guidelines issued in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, An Garda Síochána has an aim to “engage” first with members of the public, “educate, encourage and, as a last resort, enforce”.

Gardaí said “the vast majority” are continuing to adhere to the public health guidelines, but “a small minority of cases across the country” wouldn’t comply with public guidelines despite receiving warnings.

The figures

From 8 April, which was when the regulations came into effect, until 30 May inclusive, Gardaí have invoked the regulations 289 times.

These include both arrests and incidents without arrest where details like names and addresses were taken for consultation with the Director of Public Prosecution on the decision to issue charges. Arrest remains a last resort, Gardaí emphasised.

Of the 289 incidents, two were as a result of an instruction from a relevant medical professional as per the Act.

61 of these incidents resulted in an at least one arrest (43 under the Public Health regulations), with the remainder being dealt with by recording name and address and then consulting with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

As per Garda policy in relation to the regulations, in all cases where arrests were made under the regulations, members of An Garda Síochána must consult with the Director of Public Prosecutions on the decision to charge.

To date, in 76 of these incidents a charge or summons has issued. Most incidents involve a single individual but some have resulted in charges against multiple people. The remainder are under criminal investigation.

In addition, pre-existing enforcement powers were used in 1,878 incidents – this is where other offences not related to the pandemic were detected during Covid-19 operations.

“These range from incidents such as drink driving or disqualified drivers detected at checkpoints, to drugs and weapons seizures, to public order offences,” Gardaí said.

Commissioner Drew Harris said, “An Garda Síochána continues to see significant public support for the Public Health Guidelines.

Many individual, families and small groups took advantage of the good weather over the weekend to enjoy the bank holiday weekend and avail of physical exercise. Most did so with the best efforts to comply with Public Health guidelines.

“Unfortunately An Garda Síochána did have to intervene in a number of locations to engage, educate, encourage and ultimately enforce the Regulations.

He said that key locations such as parks, beaches and natural beauty spots will be patrolled by community gardaí over the coming days.

In relation to the use of spit-guards, Commissioner Harris highlighted that they would “only use anti-spit guards as last resort and in line with the Garda Decision Making Model, which includes at its centre human rights and our Code of Ethics”.

Anti-spit guards provide an additional tactical option to be considered by a Garda, as a last resort in a continuum of graduated response, in circumstances where ‘there is clear evidence of spitting now or where a member believes there is a clear and tangible threat of spitting posed by the subject’.

The Garda policy and use of anti-spit guards will be reviewed by An Garda Síochána in September 2020.

From 12 March 2020 to 01 June 2020, the Garda National Vetting Bureau (GNVB) has processed 29,090 vetting applications for Covid-related roles. This includes applications across medical and healthcare roles, and voluntary groups.

Gardaí said that the GNVB has been fully up-to-date with all vetting applications throughout 2020 with a current turnaround time for vetting applications of one day – adding that there was “no vetting backlog at any point in 2020″.

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    Mute Bernard McWilliams
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    Jan 27th 2021, 6:50 AM

    Its a housing stock issue. In Barcelona, their council are literally seizing apartments that have been vacant for more than 3 months. The owners are given half the market value or offered a 90k-900k fine.. It will drastically cut out all this investment/AirBnB trollop. i.e. by corporations with large residential property portfolios. Fair play to them!

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    Mute Alan Watts
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    Jan 27th 2021, 8:48 AM

    @Bernard McWilliams: NOBODY should be profiting from owning a 2nd or 3rd house, why do you think so many politicians are landlords?

    49
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    Mute Darren Byrne
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    Jan 27th 2021, 7:54 AM

    It’s a landlords paradise

    52
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    Mute Jason Walsh
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    Jan 27th 2021, 8:54 AM

    @Darren Byrne: Only for those with no morals, not paying or avoiding tax and no morgage. i.e not the one off accidental landlord.

    48
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    Mute Vic's Burd
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    Jan 27th 2021, 9:41 AM

    @Darren Byrne: we are driving the accidental landlords out and the huge corporate vultures in. They are the only ones profiting from this mess, not the landlord with 1 or 2 houses.

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    Mute ed w
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    Jan 27th 2021, 9:55 AM

    @Darren Byrne: I wish it was. ha went turned a profit on my house in 6 years. because of cost of renovations and repairs. in the immortal words of p Flynn you should try it sometime.

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    Mute Fr. Fintan Stack
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    Jan 27th 2021, 10:22 AM

    @ed w: The profit is an asset at the end. Even if tenants only pay for half the mortgage. That’s still a big profit.

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    Mute transik
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    Jan 27th 2021, 11:20 AM

    @ed w: speak for yourself. paper thin walls with mold infestation all day every day. 5€ cilit bang favorite landlord “repair”

    Renovation is a big fancy word but reality hits you when your landlord sends a handyman with adidas bag full of silicone and daffer tape.

    Being labdlord in dub is like licence to print money and that’s a fact.

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    Mute Neuville-Kepler62F
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    Jan 27th 2021, 6:31 AM

    Cost of Build is the root cause not Supply which is only a symptom.

    News Flash! EU Parliament voted on 21/01/2021:-
    - Housing costs should be kept affordable by law !!!!
    - Access to adequate housing should be a fundamental European right.
    - Call for an EU-wide goal to end homelessness by 2030
    - Access to affordable housing as an enforceable human right (like food or water).

    EU to the rescue again … Irish political system is inept or controlled by external forces.

    37% of Cost of Build of new homes is artificial due to levies and tax. No need.
    VAT €28,000
    LA Levy €15,000
    Social Housing contribution €5000
    Conveyancing €6000 .. you can do your own in other countries.
    ….

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    Mute Gerrard
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    Jan 27th 2021, 11:17 AM

    So many people in Dublin paying 2k a month rent but can’t get a €1200 a month Mortgage

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    Mute PF
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    Jan 27th 2021, 11:37 AM

    Surprising? Dealing with HAP is a total bureaucratic pain ( HAP admin is yet another self important QUANGO). Payments get cut off to property owner without notice or clear reason. Impossible to deal with. This is well known to agents. Never again

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    Mute Fionn Darland
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    Jan 27th 2021, 8:58 AM

    Homeless figures down over 2,000 in the last 15 months (per Focus Ireland stats). This is great news for the 2,000 families involved.

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    Mute Merlin Lancelot
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    Jan 27th 2021, 2:37 PM

    My personal experience in trying to rent anywhere within Co. Cork. If you bring up HAP it is impossible to get the place you want to rent.

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