There were also 52 incidents of spitting and/or coughing at Garda members.
Gardaí have used their new powers to enforce restrictions on public movement due to Covid-19 139 times in the last month.
Figures released by An Garda Síochána on Tuesday showed that Gardaí continue to see a high level of compliance from the public with the public health guidelines.
From the period of 8 April – when the regulations came into effect – until 2 May, Gardaí invoked the regulations 139 times out of hundreds of thousands of interactions with the public.
These include both arrests and incidents without arrest, where name and address details were taken for consultation with the DPP on the decision to issue charges.
Gardaí have said that arrests remain a last resort.
In addition, pre-existing enforcement powers were used in 1,172 incidents where other offences were disclosed in the course of Covid-19 operations. These included incidents of drink driving and public order incidents among others.
However, there has been an increase in the number of incidents of spitting or coughing at members of An Garda Síochána.
From 8 April until 2 May inclusive, there were 52 incidents of spitting and/or coughing against members of An Garda Síochána.
During the same period, members of An Garda Síochána had to use anti-spit guards 28 times.
“Regrettably, we continue to see spitting and coughing attacks on our personnel,” Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said.
“These are a significant health and safety risk to our members in the current environment. We must protect them from such disgraceful attacks.
“This includes having the option of using anti-spit guards in very limited circumstances. We have made it clear these anti-spit guards are only to be used as last resort and in line with the Garda Decision Making Model, which includes at its centre human rights and our Code of Ethics.”
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