The Garda Representative Authority has suggested a scheme which would allow Gardaí to purchase a home with assistance from the State.

It comes as the force faces a nationwide retention and recruitment crisis, which some have suggested is due in part to the housing crisis.

Assistant general secretary of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) Tara McManus said many new recruits are initially sent to large urban areas where they struggle to afford housing.

“We think that this could be one of a number of schemes that might actually help to address [the retention and recruitment crisis],” she told Lunchtime Live.

“The difficulty you have is that young people end up going to Dublin, they commute long distances because they can’t afford to buy or rent in Dublin.

“Inevitably, they look for a transfer to get closer to home and when they don’t get that transfer after a number of years, a lot of them are actually handing in their resignation.”

Ms McManus said most Gardaí are stationed in Dublin city centre, as well as other centres such as Galway, Kilkenny and Cork.

Garda presence in Dublin City Centre on 19/09/2024 Image: Alan Rowlette / © RollingNews.ie

She also said that another solution the GRA is considering is moving Gardaí onto a higher point on the pay scale when they finish training and increasing their training allowance.

However, Gardaí already have the highest average weekly earnings of all civil servants, according to the Central Statistics Office, and some wonder whether this proposal is too narrow in its focus.

“When you look at the salaries, obviously that goes across all the ranks,” Ms McManus said.

“There’s a big difference between what the Commissioner is bringing home and what a Guard that just comes out of the Garda College brings home."

According to Ms McManus, the motion is “not a finished product” and will be debated tomorrow at the GRA’s annual conference.

Main image: Gardaí outside Leinster House as the Dáil returns from holidays, 20-9-17. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie