Alan Kelly surprised Garda Commissioner's contract extended

Tipperary North TD and Labour’s justice spokesperson, Alan Kelly, has expressed surprise at the extension of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris’s contract.

Deputy Kelly said: “Since taking on the justice brief, I have been shocked but not surprised by the level of mismanagement within An Garda Síochána. Under Harris’s helm, the force is in a permanent state of crisis. The GRA have no confidence in him, Harris is not even invited to the GRA conference in a few weeks time.

“O’Callaghan has today decided to back the Commissioner. It’s a big call. It now falls squarely on him and his Department to address the serious issues at the heart of the Gardaí.

“On the floor of the Dáil, I’ve raised a plethora of issues that Drew Harris has failed to address. Issues of recruitment and retention, morale, the fact that unvetted trainees are being allowed to patrol our streets.

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“What’s more, under Drew Harris we have seen issues of the safety of our Gardaí from dangerously defective pistol holsters, to the 392 abandoned firearms left in a container in Garda headquarters, to drugs been found accidentally in disused lockers. These are clear failures of management. This is a management that the new Minister now clearly endorses.

“The political context is clear here. This Government have consistently failed to support An Garda Síochána, with the extension of Drew Harris’s contract today yet another example of the Minister turning his back on ordinary members of the Force and endorsing the current state of management of An Garda Siochana,” Deputy Kelly said.