Gardaí told to reveal staffing levels in each station

The newspaper successfully appealed a rejected Freedom of Information (FOI) request, with the Office of the Information Commissioner (OIC) stating it must now release personnel numbers for all 563 stations.

The Times was provided with the number of officers in each division, but the force refused to narrow it down, claiming the information might impair the prevention, detection or investigation of offences.

The OIC said the gardaí’s key argument is that the information would “allow for an assessment of the operational policing capabilities in any location at any given time”.

However, senior OIC investigator Stephen Rafferty said staffing levels at many small stations would be generally known locally and similar information had been placed in the public domain in the past.

The OIC eventually ruled that gardaí had failed to demonstrate that it was justified in refusing access to the information.

An Garda Síochána has four weeks to decide if it wants to appeal against the ruling in the High Court.