There was another high-profile assault in the capital last week where a visiting actor was bottled, slashed and bitten by three youths, both female and male. One public commentator described them as feral youths running wild on our streets. It is an assault that mirrors so many others occurring across the country every weekend and week. The Garda force now numbers fewer that 14,000, 1,000 short of the Government recruitment campaign. There are only 300 gardaí in Templemore - 25% of the Government's target - and there is a large dropout rate occurring. Why are people refusing to join An Garda Síochána? Might I offer that the pension entitlements are not enough for people after 25 or 30 years of public service? Or maybe it is that there are three oversight bodies zealously monitoring Garda activities and causing endless paperwork and bureaucracy. Or perhaps it is the statute of limitations, with a six-month limit for a common assault, yet it takes 18 months for the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, to investigate frivolous complaints against gardaí, with video testimony of gardaí being refused while the public are able to publicly record. I ask the Minister to look at the resources we are giving to gardaí, which are favouring criminals more than those in the force.

We have a wonderful workforce in An Garda Síochána. As I said, my priority is to make sure we increase that workforce. The gardaí I meet are committed to their job. Many of them love the work they do. That work is not without its challenges and that is why we provided an unprecedented budget of €2 billion for the Garda alone last year. Obviously, I will be doing what I can to increase that.

It is not only about the terms and conditions, which are important. Obviously, I work with the Garda to make sure the terms and conditions are the same for all the various different public sector workers and are as good as they can be and that the gardaí have the resources they need, whether it is introducing body-worn cameras, whether it is introducing the handheld devices to allow them do their job in a more efficient and effective way or whether it is the huge capital investments that are happening right across the country.

A huge amount of work is happening to make sure that the Garda is supported in its work. Of course, the more gardaí we have, the more that will take pressures off the system. That is why recruitment is my number one priority.