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A single cohort of six gardaí will “realistically” be trained in pursuit by the end of the year, garda management has said.

One representative organisation predicted it would take years for “substantial” numbers of gardaí to receive pursuit training.

The capability of gardaí to pursue vehicles in dangerous circumstances has come under increased scrutiny after multiple high-profile crashes in August.

In one incident, five teenagers died when the car they were travelling in was driven the wrong way down the M9 in Co Kildare and hit another vehicle.

A child and three women from the same family were seriously injured in the other car.

Gardaí said an instruction was given not to engage with the vehicle as it travelled the wrong way down the motorway.

Garda representative organisations have called for increased legal protections against unintended consequences during chases, while also highlighting that no specific pursuit training currently exists.

The Government and garda management have committed to introducing pursuit training from this year, and instructors would first be schooled by UK police.

Asked by Social Democrats justice spokesman Gary Gannon when he expected gardaí would be trained in pursuit, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi) said instructors could be trained by the end of 2026 but it was “highly unlikely” it would be extended to any other members this year.

Agsi general secretary Ronan Clogher said there would not be “substantial numbers” by mid 2027, adding: “You’re talking 28, 29 you’re talking years here.”

The Garda Representative Association for rank-and-file members also cast doubt on training this year, and general secretary Ronan Slevin said: “Honestly, I think that’s highly unlikely considering our requirements under the EU presidency and the policing of that event, which is intense to say the least up until the end of this year.”

In a later session of the committee, the director of training at the Garda College said that after instructors were trained, he expected that to be passed on to “very small” numbers of gardaí this year.

Chief Superintendent Brian Sugrue told Labour TD Alan Kelly: “I expect probably a single or maybe two courses before the end of this year with a wider rollout in 2027.”

He said a single cohort of six was “probably realistic” by the end of 2026, and he did not currently have any instructors trained to run a course

Assistant Commissioner for roads policing, Denis Ferry, said: “We hope to have around 40 instructors trained by the end of the year, and then commence the first course.”

Asked for a timeframe on when he would be confident there was enough training to protect the public, he said he did not have a “defined timeline” or a “quantum”.

Mr Kelly said it was “embarrassing” that gardaí had to go out of the country for training from Devon and Cornwall police.

Earlier, Mr Slevin said he did not think any training could be designed or delivered “that will deal with a person who’s driving against traffic on a motorway”.

Asked if a member of the public could be involved in a contra-flow crash tomorrow, he told Fianna Fáil Senator Anne Rabbitte: “Yes, it can happen to you, and lessons may be learned, but the lessons haven’t been learned by the people who are committing offences, unfortunately.”

Agsi told the committee that successive commissioners and justice ministers have failed to provide the adequate resources, training and legislative protections to address pursuit policy.

Mr Clogher told the Justice Committee on Tuesday that management needs to take “immediate, tangible, robust and measurable action” on legal protections “to subdue the overarching belief amongst members” that “they will be thrown to the wolves by the garda organisation for conducting their duty”.

He told Labour justice spokesman Alan Kelly: “If a garda on duty is in a crash, they’re on their own.

“The organisation abandons them, and I think that is a cultural problem, it is a major problem.”

Mr Clogher said there have been numerous examples of “extremely dangerous and illegal driving” by criminals attempting to evade capture in recent years, but there was a recent “sinister and frightening development” involving people contra-flow driving or deliberating seeking pursuits for the purpose of “generating social media likes”.

It accused garda management of disregarding the concerns and proposed solutions it proffered in a consultation process last year.

Agsi has called for legal protection for gardaí while conducting pursuit driving on duty, definitive guidance, transfer of risk exposure, training and additional resources in road policing.

It added that it was its view that the “greatest obstacle to tackling” problems around pursuit “is a cultural issue surrounding risk aversion within the Garda Organisation”.

On legal protection, it wants contra-flow indemnity, separate working driving licences, and safeguards around private insurance policies.

Mr Slevin said incidents of “brazen and deliberate” contra-flow driving go back almost a decade.

He told the committee recorded incidents of wrong-way driving were up 32% year on year, with seven incidents in a two-week period at the start of August alone, adding: “It is our understanding that these numbers may be even more chilling.”

Mr Slevin told committee members that they have the same driving qualifications as most gardaí, which allows for basic responses to non-emergency situations.

It said no level of driving competency within An Garda Síochána includes pursuit training, and that there were fewer than 10 members on the highest level, which allows them to be instructors.

The GRA further called for harsher sentencing and bans for those caught deliberately driving the wrong way, punishments for willing passengers, and an offence of uploading videos containing such driving as well as “serious accountability” for social media companies.

Meanwhile, Agsi said garda management was “absolutely” failing in its duty of its care to members.

Asked by Fine Gael TD Paula Butterly about what management does to protect members against harassment arising out of videos being posted on social media, Mr Clogher said it was the “number one priority” it had raised with Commissioner Justin Kelly.

He said: “We actually feel that this is one of the biggest impediments for recruitment in our area, the abuse that members take on social media, and I think we have seen no delivery whatsoever on it, and it’s very very disappointing.”