148 Mr. Stafford asked the Minister for Justice if he will give details of the amount of Garda specifically trained in the area of victim support and counselling.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that the vast majority of gardaí have received at least some training in victim support and counselling. For some years past, all Garda in-service courses, including community relations, neighbourhood watch and community policing courses have devoted time to training and advice on counselling and assisting victims of crime and equipping gardaí with the skills they need to deal effectively and sympathetically with crime victims. All 1,000 trainee gardaí who have had the benefit of the new training programme in place at the Garda College since April 1989 have also had the benefit of extensive training for interaction with victims of crime and this training has included an important input from the Irish Association for Victim Support.