A SPECIALIST GARDA unit to examine road crashes is suffering a “huge shortage” of personnel, leaving it “snowed under” amid a rise in traffic incidents across Ireland.

The annual conference for rank and file gardaí heard that it has also meant investigators are “potentially losing evidence” as they may have arrived to the scene of a crash the day after it happened, with weather among the issues affecting the scene.

The Forensic Collision Investigators unit is not even at half strength, with 11 qualified members when the minimum recommended number is for 24.

At its annual conference in Killarney, the Garda Representatives Association (GRA) union voted overwhelmingly to call on the Garda Commissioner to urgently address the shortage in Forensic Collision Investigators nationwide.

A total of 54 people have died on Irish roads so far this year.

The motion also seeks for An Garda Síochána to draft a policy to “ensure the highest standards are maintained in fatal collision and life altering” collision investigations.

The Garda body conference heard that a recruitment campaign “collapsed” late last year, with one serving Garda who went through the process blasting it as “shambolic”.

Tipperary-based Forensic Collision Investigator Chris O’Mara told The Journal that it has become increasingly common for him and his colleagues in the region to have to travel to as far as Donegal to respond to fatal and serious crashes to plug the gap.

He said he has found himself needing to get on the road at 3am to make it to the scene of a crash some 250km away, often on roads that must remain closed until the forensic work has taken place.

“We’re one of the few areas in the Garda Síochána that’s seeking more oversight,” O’Mara said.

“We want more management. The senior National Forensic collision investigator, that role has been vacant since he resigned in 2023. So for more than two years now, we’ve had no senior forensic collision investigator in the country.

“It’s a very simple fix this,” O’Mara said. “We’re calling for proper numbers of specifically trained and qualified experts that can do it.”

Recruitment process hadn’t met standards

The conference heard that Garda management sent a brief note to applicants on 23 December last to tell them that the competition “hadn’t met standards” and been stopped.

Asked for comment, the Garda Press Office said that a preliminary process is currently underway prior to “announcing a new competition” for Forensic Collision Investigators in the near future.

Shane Bonner, a Garda serving in the traffic unit of Dublin South Central, proposed the motion at the GRA conference. He told reporters that he brought the motion forward as he felt that gardaí are “not doing the best that we can” when it comes to serious collisions.

Bonner said this means that following a fatal accident, people are left “waiting for answers” but the “workload is so heavy” that it’s causing delays to the reports produced on serious road incidents.

Garda Shane Bonner brought the motion to the GRA conference in Co Kerry. CONOR Ó MEARÁIN CONOR Ó MEARÁIN

“We’re seeing a huge shortage of FCIs, the forensic collision investigators. People are waiting for answers,” he said.

He further pointed the finger at senior Garda management, saying they were responsible for the “failure” in staffing the forensic collision investigators unit.

“We’re potentially losing evidence, we’re leaving scenes closed for longer,” Bonner said.

He said this could impact on personal injury cases as people who suffer “traumatic” injuries may find their claims affected by the delays as well.

“We’re not doing the best that we can, we aren’t giving the service that we need to be giving,” Bonner said.

“One member last year did 18 fatal accidents, the recommended number is five to six in a year,” Bonner continued.

“So he has three times the workload. How do you produce proper files and proper investigations, to the coroners court, to the family, to everyone that deserves the proper information,” Bonner said.