Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is to remain in the role until 2025 after the Government granted an extension to his term of office, it has been announced.
The former PSNI deputy chief constable and RUC officer, who was sworn into the State’s most senior policing role in 2018, was due to stand down next September.
But Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said the Cabinet has approved her request on Tuesday that he remain in office until the current statutory retirement age for gardai, at the age of 60.
“The Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is rightly held in high esteem by the public and is widely acknowledged as having done an exemplary job since he was appointed in September 2018,” she said.
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“As well as his role in leading our national policing and security service, the Commissioner has introduced very significant reforms and driven the ongoing programme of reform in An Garda Síochána.
“The organisation is currently entering a critical phase with the rollout of the new operating model, and the forthcoming passage and implementation of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill.
“The extension of the Commissioner’s term of office will bring a welcome clarity and continuity of leadership to An Garda Síochána through the vital period ahead.”
The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill is a sweeping set of policing reforms centred on police oversight, governance and accountability.
The Garda Commissioner’s original five year term of office has been extended to June 1 2025.
Mr Harris was the first person from outside the jurisdiction to be appointed as Garda Commissioner.
In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, Mr Harris said it is a “great privilege and honour to be Garda Commissioner.”
“During the last four years, the organisation has made great progress in becoming an efficient and effective human-rights focused policing and security service,” he said.
“In particular, the work by Garda personnel during the Covid-19 pandemic was a real demonstration of the organisation’s commitment to keeping people safe through our ethos of policing by consent and in partnership with communities.
“However, while we have made many significant changes to the organisation in recent years, the pandemic also meant that we had to put on hold some of the elements of our reform programme that we had planned to introduce.
“I look forward to leading An Garda Síochána in providing the best possible policing and security service to the people of Ireland.”