Rookie cops 'should be paid €1k a month more'

TRAINEE gardai should receive almost €1,000 more a month, Sinn Fein have outlined in a new Garda recruitment and retention proposal.

- BY CIARA O'LOUGHLIN

Latest figures show there are 14,369 members of An Garda Siochana, roughly the same as a decade ago when the population was 600,000 people smaller.

The Government has set out targets for 1,000 new gardai by the end of this year.

Garda cadets are currently paid €354 a week, which is 67% of the minimum wage.