Nearly 900 Gardaí are currently on sick leave, according to new figures released by Justice Minister Helen McEntee.

Some 508 have been out over 28 days according to the figures provided to Fianna Fáil’s Cavan-Monaghan TD Niamh Smyth following a parliamentary question.

She had asked Minister Helen McEntee the number of Gardaí that are out sick by division and how many are on long leave.

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She also asked for information on how many people are on a career break and when they are due back.

The highest number of people on long-term sick leave was in the Clare/Tipperary division, where 43 people were out long-term.

Across the seven policing divisions in Dublin, there are at least 90 people out on long-term sick leave. There are 868 Gardai out sick in total with 508 on long term leave

However, Minister McEntee advised that she could not provide figures for the Dublin Metropolitan Region Eastern, the Dublin Metropolitan Region Southern and the traffic division as there were fewer than 10 people out for longer than a month.

Deputy Smyth told the Irish Mirror that the number of people out on long-term sick leave could be linked to reports of low morale in An Garda Síochána in recent months.

“They are really worrying figures and something that I would like to address with the Garda Commissioner [Drew Harris] in the future,” she explained.

“It points to the low morale we have heard a lot about. It is a significant number that is out sick and it has to be having a huge impact on the overall capacity of the force to deliver on policing on the ground.

“It is an incredible number of staff to be out. How do you manage a force with that many people out?

“Obviously, there is an issue with recruitment and retention anyway. But it certainly does hark to what we have heard about low morale.

“It is something that really should be looked at in the overall scheme of things in terms of policing and the capacity and the ability of the force to have that visibility that people so badly want to see.

“And to have the ability to get [Gardaí] out of offices and away from desks.”

The figures provided to Deputy Smyth also confirmed that there are 44 people currently on a career break in An Garda Síochána. This includes 15 in the Dublin Metropolitan Region.

Minister McEntee stated that Gardaí can avail of “special leave without pay” for a maximum period of five years. They must apply for 12 months at a time.

A career break can be taken, she said, for further education, domestic responsibilities, child minding and foreign travel.

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