The number of gardai attached to drug units has plunged despite a rise in crimes associated with illicit substances - with one division in Dublin being slashed by 80% in the past eight years.
Fianna Fáil TD for Dublin Mid-West, John Curran says the number of gardaí attached to drug units across the State has continued to fall despite accelerated Garda recruitment and a surge in drug crime.
And he pointed to his own constituency, which in 2011 had 35 gardai attached to its unit - now there are only seven.
Garda drugs units are mainly detectives and undercover gardaí assigned to deal with illicit drugs, movements and seizures.
New figures show there has been a decrease in the number of gardaí assigned to drugs units around the country.
The figures were contained in a parliamentary response to the TD's question to Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan in the Dail, and come as a separate report showed that drug-related crime has risen been a 20% jump in the number of offences recorded in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2018
Deputy Curran said yesterday: "I recently raised a question in the Dáil regarding the number of gardaí assigned to each divisional drug unit in 2017, 2018 and to date in 2019.
"From the figures provided there appears to be a decrease in the number of gardaí in Drugs units compared to the end of 2015.
"In my own area of Dublin Midwest, in 2011 there was a total of 35 gardaí in the unit, this had dropped to 26 in 2011 and now in 2019 we see there are just seven gardaí in the unit.
"These cuts are unacceptable particularly when we see high levels of drug crime continuing.
“In response to my question, the Minister has said he has been informed by the Commissioner that the additional resources coming on stream have enabled him to assign resources to Specialist Bureaus such as the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau for next year.
"Extra resources are badly needed in these divisions and not reductions like we have been seeing over the past few years."
