Garda recruitment
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said there needs to be an increase in the number of gardai to deal with rising demands on the force.
Mr Harris said An Garda Síochána is under “considerable strain” because of various demands and responsibilities that have to be met.
He said headcount is an issue the force is constantly assessing.
Launching the new Garda uniform, Mr Harris said recruitment figures set six years ago are not sufficient.
National Ploughing firm
The company that operates the National Ploughing Championships recorded combined losses of €1.25 million during the two pandemic hit years when the event was cancelled.
New accounts filed by The National Ploughing Association of Ireland show that the company last year recorded pre-tax losses of €600,353 when the event was cancelled for a second year running due to Covid-19.
The 2021 loss followed the NPAI recording losses of €656,240 in 2020.
The cancellations decimated the Association’s revenues across 2021 and 2020.
Body found in Donegal
Gardaí are investigating the death of a man aged in his 70s whose body was found washed up off the coast of Co Donegal.
The man's body was found in the water off Bunagee Pier in Culdaff at around 11.15am on Sunday morning.
The remains were spotted in the water by a passer-by who then contacted Gardaí.
The man's body was taken to Letterkenny University Hospital where a post-mortem examination is due to take place.
Gardaí said the results of the post-mortem will determine the course of their investigation.
Garda uniforms
Gardaí are sporting new style today, as they introduce an updated version of their uniform.
This is only the third time in a century that a formal upgrade of the Garda uniform has taken place.
The hat will remain the same, but changes will include a blue polo-shirt and cargo-style "operational" trousers.
Garda Lee Higgins from Store Street Garda Station in Dublin told Newstalk the change will be a big improvement, especially in the heat.
Staffing issues
Urgent and emergency services are threatened by a staffing crisis in the ambulance service, endangering targets for responding to the most serious calls over the next four years.
An unpublished HSE presentation warns recruitment “is being surpassed by demand for the organisation’s services”, which “poses a serious risk to the ability of the [National Ambulance Service] to deliver urgent and emergency care services”.
As The Irish Times reports, the presentation contains details of the HSE human resources workforce plan for the National Ambulance Service (NAS), and says there is a “critical and immediate need to increase workforce capacity”.
The report warns that based on current modelling, compliance with a target to respond within 19 minutes to life-threatening cases other than cardiac or respiratory arrest would be “considerably less than 40 per cent” by 2027.
Salary increases
More than a third of Irish employers say employee salaries will increase in the next three months, according to a new survey.
The research, conducted by Hays Ireland, found over half of employer say these pay rises are influenced by the rising cost of living.
In the year to date, Irish inflation hit 9.6 per cent and the cost of living has placed a renewed focus on employee salaries and employee benefits.
The research found 45 per cent of employers claim to have provided employee pay increases in the last three months, meanwhile, 55 per cent say salaries have remained unchanged.
Limerick assault
Gardaí have appealed for witnesses of a "vicious" and "unprovoked" assault on a man in Limerick City last weekend.
The victim, aged in his 30s, suffered a blow to the head with a blunt implement in the early hours of last Friday, and was rushed by ambulance to hospital with serious injuries.
The man has since being discharged from hospital.
"A 32-year-old male was out socialising at John Street in Limerick City last Friday morning at 1.07am, he was suddenly and viciously attacked by another male," Garda John Finnerty of Henry Street Garda station said.
"The perpetrator struck him with what can only be described as a blunt instrument. The victim received a significant injury to his head.
