Under Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, Ireland is becoming a more violent and dangerous place. The Government is soft on crime and soft on the causes of crime. The Taoiseach just needs to look at the facts in that regard.

Over the last number of years, the Government has hung the Garda out to dry in terms of underresourcing and understaffing. According to Eurostat figures in 2016, Ireland had the smallest per capita police force in the EU at 278 gardaí for every 100,000 people. That was 40 police officers less than the European average at the time. Figures I just received from the Department of Justice show that there are only 280 gardaí now for every 100,000 people. It has hardly moved in terms of per capita numbers since that austerity floor back in 2016. This obviously leaves gardaí extremely vulnerable.

In the response to that parliamentary question I received a number of weeks ago, we found out that 2,411 gardaí have been assaulted while on active duty in the last ten years. It is absolutely not acceptable that hundreds of gardaí are going about their normal business every year helping the community and they are being assaulted for it. It is terrifying figure for both the gardaí and for families. The Government must take steps to protect those gardaí.

Other information we received shows that only 116 gardaí were recruited to the service last year. That is an 80% collapse on the previous year, which is an incredible figure. We know that hundreds of gardaí are retiring each year and that last year, we had the highest number of resignations in the Garda force in the last five years. It is, therefore, very clear and very stark. The number of gardaí in the State per capita is going into reverse significantly and it is doing tremendous damage to morale in the force. It is doing tremendous damage to the force's ability to carry out its work in the community and it is leaving gardaí vulnerable as a result.

Now, we hear that gardaí are set to face prosecution after three people were tragically killed while being pursued down the wrong side of the motorway. These were criminals who had 200 previous convictions. As the Taoiseach can imagine, there is huge concern among gardaí at that particular threat of prosecution. There is huge concern about whether they will be able to do the work they are meant to do. We have to stand up for our gardaí. We in Aontú have created a Bill that will create a minimum custodial sentence for those who physically assault gardaí. We heard the Minister for Justice talk about a maximum custodial sentence and that is to be welcomed, but without a minimum custodial sentence, it is entirely possible that people can continue to assault gardaí in this State and never, ever see prison time for that. That is absolutely wrong given what has happened. All of this is leading to significant increases in crime and anti-social behaviour in the State. Will the Taoiseach support our call for a minimum custodial sentence to protect gardaí on duty?

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Let me be very clear. I believe we need more gardaí and more Garda staff. I said so last week when I was asked about it and I stand over it. We need more gardaí and more Garda staff, and that is exactly what we are doing. We have authorised the recruitment of 1,000 new gardaí this year. Of course, there will be retirements and resignations, but that will see a net increase in the number of gardaí this year. I am confident that will be the case. We will do the same again next year. We have roughly 14,000 gardaí. It is up a bit on where it was a couple of years ago, but not enough. I want to get us to 15,000 gardaí employed by the State before this Government ends. That is the target and commitment I have given. We intend to do that. We are also hiring hundreds of additional Garda staff every year, which allows gardaí to do more front-line work. I had the opportunity last week to visit Clonmel Garda station and see exactly how that does work in freeing up gardaí to do Garda work by having Garda staff on the front desk. I am pleased that we are going ahead now with the new Garda stations in Clonmel and Macroom. I thank the Ministers, Deputies Harris, Donohoe and O'Donovan for making that possible.

All of us in Government take the issue of the safety of our gardaí very seriously. We support their work and we do not believe anyone should be assaulted in the course of his or her work. That applies to people in other professions as well. What are we doing about it? We are increasing the maximum sentence from seven years to 12 years. The Minister, Deputy Harris, received approval from Government for that only this week.

We are also bringing in body-worn cameras, which will also help to protect gardaí.

To frankly answer the Deputy's question about minimum sentences, I do not think generally that minimum sentences are a good idea. I know I am accused of all sorts of ideology and perhaps this is the liberal in me speaking. Minimum sentences tend to backfire. What happens when you have minimum sentences is that people are sometimes detained in prison when they probably should not be and a more appropriate approach might be a suspended sentence, probation or a juvenile liaison programme, for example. In some cases, people are acquitted when they should not be because the judge or the jury think the minimum sentence is too stiff in the circumstances. That is generally why I think minimum sentences can be a bad idea.

Authorising is not recruiting. Last year, the Government authorised that recruitment of 1,000 gardaí and 116 were recruited. That is the difference between a press statement and the reality of the experience in society. The Government's policy is backfiring on people because crime and antisocial behaviour are going through the roof. Ireland has become a more violent place in recent years. Figures that we have obtained show that gardaí have seized 17,000 knives in the past year, an increase of 60% in a few short years. There was a jump in the number of unlawful killings in 2021 and 2022. Figures released to Aontú show there were 53,775 domestic violence calls in 2022. More than 1,000 people, mostly women, attended a sexual assault treatment unit last year. That was the first time that figure ever surpassed 1,000. In 2011, 1,958 sexual offences were recorded in the State. In 2021, that number had increased by 75% to 3,433. In 2011, 447 rapes were recorded in the State. In 2021, that figure had doubled to 983. Ireland is becoming more violent. It is happening because people can attack gardaí with impunity at the moment and the numbers of gardaí are falling. The Garda can no longer do its job to the full extent.

I thank the Deputy. He and I can quote statistics back and forth until the cows come home but if we look at the facts and compare Ireland with other European countries, other countries in the western or developed world, this is a pretty safe country. Just look at the murder rate per capita. It is one of the lowest in the western world. That is because of the hard work of our gardaí and the strong society we have built. Crime numbers go up and down but if we take a broad period of time and compare us with other countries, Ireland is pretty safe. We should not be scaring people into thinking otherwise.

All those figures are correct. They have all gone up.

That is in no way to dismiss the reality of crime or the experience of victims.

In terms of recruitment, as I mentioned, funding has been provided to recruit 1,000 new gardaí this year. More than 90 entered Templemore in November. More than 130 entered in the following intake. Another 154 will be in the next intake. We are confident that even when taking account of the challenges in recruitment due to retirements and resignations, we will see a meaningful net increase in the number of gardaí this year.