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Minister Flanagan welcomes launch of new Garda Operating Model

  • New model shifts emphasis to local community policing
  • Will result in more Sergeants and Inspectors on front-line
  • Changes meet a key commitment in ‘A Policing Service for the Future’

The Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, has welcomed today’s announcement by the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris of the new Operating Model for An Garda Síochána. The new model will bring very significant improvements to An Garda Síochána’s structures, processes and services. It will increase the number of frontline Gardaí and maximise the organisation’s operational impact at the local level to deliver an improved, more consistent, highly visible policing service in communities.

Minister Flanagan said:  

I welcome the rollout of this new operating model which meets a key commitment in the Government’s four year implementation plan (A Policing Service for the Future).  It is designed to reduce bureaucracy and move real power and decision making from Garda Headquarters to the Chief Superintendents leading Garda Divisions in the communities they serve. Importantly, it will also result in more frontline leadership positions with Sergeants and Inspectors on the ground where leadership, supervision and mentoring is crucial.

The Minister added:

This functional model has long been recommended by independent policing specialists, including the Garda Síochána Inspectorate and in the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.  It is a key Government commitment in the Garda reform programme and I am glad to see the Commissioner moving to implementation.  In delivering on this commitment, the Commissioner has listened carefully to those experts and, crucially, to the voices of local communities who consistently make clear they want to see more Gardaí available on the ground.   While new to Ireland, this model is the norm in other countries and I am confident that the new structure will serve Ireland well and lead to a more agile and responsive police service improving safety for our local communities nationwide.