A report published in the Irish Independent presents in very stark terms the recruitment and retention crisis in An Garda Síochána. One in four Garda stations has seen a drop in staff, and 42 stations have no gardaí permanently assigned to them. In my constituency of Dublin Central we have lost 30 gardaí in the past year. The truth is that the Taoiseach's Government has overseen a significant depletion in Garda numbers over the decade it has been in power. When it comes to recruitment, we have another case of the Government setting big targets and falling very short on delivery. There simply are not enough gardaí to adequately police some areas, despite the very best efforts of those working on the front line. This creates real worry for people that their communities are not safe and are not protected from crime. How will the Government now respond to this crisis and ensure that An Garda Síochána is staffed to the required level?

An Garda Síochána is made up of sworn gardaí and Garda staff. We anticipate that both will increase in number this year. We have provided funding for more than 1,000 gardaí to be recruited this year. This will be enough to cover retirements and resignations, and will result in an increase in the total number of gardaí. While training was disrupted as a consequence of the restrictions related to Covid, the total number of gardaí who completed or began training last year was almost 500. We expect to see some of them coming through in the next few months.