Cabinet set to approve new Garda Commissioner to succeed Drew Harris
Drew Harris
is expected to be named on Tuesday following a recruitment process.
Minister for Justice
Jim O'Callaghan
will recommend the successful candidate to Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday, and the appointment will be formally approved by Government.
Mr Harris's term as commissioner will continue until September 1st.
The number of senior
Garda
officers who applied for the commissioner's job, which was advertised in May and carries a salary of at least €314,000, was relatively low, according to sources.
READ MORE
Both serving deputy commissioners, who would normally be the front-runners for the job, are believed to have applied.
Deputy Commissioner Justin Kelly has worked his full policing career in the Garda, having joined as a recruit via the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary.
Deputy Commissioner Shawna Coxon also applied for the role. She was appointed deputy commissioner in April 2021, having previously been deputy chief officer in the Toronto Police in Canada.
A former senior officer in the PSNI, Mr Harris was appointed head of
An Garda Síochána
in October 2018 on a five-year contract, which was extended for a further two years. More recently his term was extended by another three months, despite the Department of Justice having initially strongly denied reports he had been approached about a second extension.
Mr O'Callaghan said he intended for the new commissioner to be in place to take over from Mr Harris when he retires on September 1st. The recruitment process was run by Public Jobs, formerly the Public Appointments Service.
The key issues that the new Garda Commissioner will have to address are retention, the morale crisis within the force, the use of suspensions and discipline, lack of training, and excessive bureaucracy, according to the general secretary of the Garda Representative Association, Ronan Slevin.
Speaking on Newstalk Breakfast, Mr Slevin said he hoped that whoever is appointed as Garda Commissioner will recognise those issues that need to be addressed immediately.
When asked about the GRA's lack of faith in Mr Harris, Mr Slevin said that he had failed to address issues identified by the association over many years.
'He still is denying that there is a morale issue within An Garda Síochána. And I think that the resignation and retirement figures clearly demonstrate that there's a serious morale issue within the workforce.'
Mr Slevin said that the new commissioner will have to address issues such as the inability to attract new members into the force, as well as the staff retention issue.
'Those are issues that he can address immediately, the use of suspension, discipline, the lack of training, the bureaucracy and administration tasks that members unnecessarily have to get involved in on a day-to-day basis. All of that is leading into a demoralised workforce and I think that the new commissioner will have to address that,' said Mr Slevin.
'You have a force that are in some way in fear of working because they know that if they make any form of a mistake they will be disciplined severely as a result of that, and that strangles the workforce in the environment that our workforce is in.'
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