The events of the last 24 hours have again hammered home the need to have uniformed gardaí on the street, both as a deterrent and from a reassurance point of view. For that reason, I raise the Garda Reserve force this morning. It is an outfit that has been around for about 20 years. There is currently about 300 reserve gardaí but they have never really got the recognition or the acknowledgement from the State that they rightly deserve. The members of other part-time uniformed services in the country such as the Coast Guard and the Civil Defence actually get a medal awarded to them after about ten years' service. I would be grateful if the Tánaiste could discuss with the Minister, Deputy Harris, whether something similar could be done for reserve gardaí. It would cost only a handful of euro but it would be hugely appreciated by the 300 reserve gardaí concerned. If it is important to them, it is important to me and it should be important to us all.

I thank the Deputy for raising a very important issue. I agree with him on the importance of the Garda Reserve. I agree that members of the reserve force can be of significant help to the community. I recall being in government when the Garda Reserve was introduced. Like all institutions, initially there was some resistance to the idea. Increasingly now, both within An Garda Síochána and within the military, there is an acknowledgement of the role of the reserve. We are creating new initiatives in terms of accelerating, expanding, and recruiting more reserve gardaí and likewise in the military reserves. There is a new recruitment campaign. It will be held in quarter 4 of 2023. On foot of this, new reservists will be appointed. A strategy has been developed within the context of A Policing Service for our Future. The Commissioner has developed a Garda Reserve strategy for 2021 to 2025. There are moves afoot. I think the Commissioner is possessed of this and of expanding the number of volunteers.