Last week saw the conviction of Jozef Puska for the murder of Ashling Murphy. This horrific murder shocked the nation and our deepest sympathies and solidarity are with the Murphy family.

It is quite clear that we have reached a dangerous tipping point in terms of crime and antisocial behaviour in towns and villages across the country. In recent years under the Government, Ireland has become a more violent and dangerous place. The rates of rape and sexual assault have doubled in the past ten years and the murder rate is soaring. Thefts from people and vehicle theft have significantly increased, assaults and the obstruction of gardaí have increased, human trafficking has increased and harassment and stalking have increased. The spike in violent crime in towns has not happened by accident. One reason for this is that Garda numbers are at their lowest in five years. The number of rank-and-file gardaí is the lowest in six years. Right now, Ireland has one of the smallest police forces per capita in the whole EU. New data released to Aontú just this week by the Minister for Justice show that, so far this year, only 237 gardaí have been recruited. By comparison, over 600 were recruited in 2019. Four hundred and thirty-four gardaí retired so far this year, which again represents a significant increase on the number in 2019. Garda resignations are also increasing significantly. A garda told me that of the 25 people who left the force in October, 13 resigned. This is startling. Resignations comprised the main cause of exit from the force last year. Gardaí are voting with their feet and leaving well before their retirement dates. It is incredible that, despite all the Government has said, the photo opportunities and images of the Minister for Justice walking the streets of Dublin with gardaí, the Garda force in this State is still shrinking. The bottom line is that under the Government, more gardaí are leaving the force than joining. Is it any wonder that the data given to me by the Minister last week show that, every day in Ireland, at least one Garda has been violently assaulted? So far this year, 339 gardaí have been assaulted while on active duty. So far this year, 35 gardaí have been off sick due to poor mental health, with 300 in total over the past six years.

The fall in the number of gardaí has exposed the remaining gardaí further to violent attacks and has made them more vulnerable. There is no doubt but that there is a direct correlation between the spike in violent crime in communities throughout the country and the collapse in Garda numbers. The collapse in Garda morale, recruitment and numbers under the current Government is leading to more violence in towns and villages throughout the country. I want to know from the Minister what material steps the Government is taking to stem the collapse in Garda numbers and morale.

I thank Deputy Tóibín. Let me begin where he did, by remembering Ashling Murphy’s family. I have had the honour of meeting on a few occasions Ray, Kathleen, Amy, Cathal and Ryan. It is fair to say that Ashling Murphy’s murder stopped all of us in our tracks. She was a young woman out for a walk or run by a canal and was brutally murdered. We all think of her family and we are all pleased to see justice served. The family remains in our thoughts. We are very fortunate to have in this country a Minister for Justice who has prioritised domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. In the short time available, I will not be able to go through all the work she has done in this area; however, her establishment of a new agency to lead and co-ordinate the implementation of our zero-tolerance strategy will in time be seen as very significant, along with significant legislative reform to ensure we genuinely take a zero-tolerance approach to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

Garda recruitment is an absolute priority for the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Government. The Government is very much committed to building stronger safer communities and strengthening Garda numbers. The Deputy, I and everybody else knows that recruitment in the Garda College was seriously disrupted by the Covid pandemic. That is not just blaming Covid; it is a statement of fact. The college had to close, not once but twice, and the pipeline of gardaí that would have come through at the time was seriously disrupted. Since then, we have seen a very high level of interest in our recruitment campaigns. The Minister has been very clear that nothing is off the table when it comes to ways to improve recruitment and retention, including looking at the retirement age, her important decision to increase the entry age - I always thought it was slightly offensive that someone could not become a garda beyond the age of 35 - and considering other issues as well. As of last month, there were about 14,000 Garda members across the country. This represents an increase of approximately 9% since 2015, when there were only 12,860 Garda members.

The Deputy is right to highlight the issue of garda safety. I am very pleased that the Houses will be passing legislation to ensure that members of An Garda Síochána can have bodycams. It seems bizarre that the only person at a protest - or worse - who does not have a camera at the moment is often a member of An Garda Síochána. They get cameras pointed in their faces, but they do not have cameras themselves. That reforming legislation by the Minister will be very significant and helpful.

I am pleased that we are seeing garda recruitment ramp up again. Numbers in Templemore are increasing, with attestations - graduations effectively - taking place every three months. We saw 135 new trainees enter the college in February, 154 in May, 174 in July and a further 177 entered the college last month. That was the largest increase since the advent of Covid. This means that nearly 500 trainees are now in the system and another class is due to start in Templemore in December. A total of 237 new gardaí have attested. We are on track to have between 700 and 800 new recruits in the college in 2023, with a funded recruitment programme for 2024.

According to the Minister's response in the past week, Garda recruitment is at one third of what was pre Covid. The Minister opposite should not use the figures from the pandemic as his baseline to show so-called improvements. He just admitted that Covid distorted the figures significantly. The other point is that for every year the Minister for Justice has been in office, the number of gardaí has fallen. That is an incredible record.

The Minister referred to issues relating to garda bodycams. Cameras do not and cannot make up for having sufficient Garda personnel. The direct link between the number of gardaí and people's behaviour is significant. That can be seen in the context of what is happening on the roads. A reply to a parliamentary question I tabled to the Minister for Justice showed that there has been a 36% reduction in the number of gardaí policing the roads in recent years. That is an incredible fall in the number of gardaí minding the roads. At the same time, there has been a significant increase in the number of deaths on the roads. It stands to reason that if people feel they will not come across a Garda checkpoint or meet a garda on the road, unfortunately, their behaviour changes. As a result, we have seen an increased number of crashes on the roads. There is a link between recruitment of gardaí and life-and-death situations in this country. The Government is not making a material difference in respect of that issue at present. When will it start to recruit more gardaí, protect the welfare of gardaí and make sure that the terms, conditions and wages of gardaí are at a level whereby we will be able to recruit young people into force?

I have already outlined very clearly to the House that the Government is already taking action to do exactly what the Deputy is suggesting, namely, increasing Garda numbers. That can be seen in the steps the Minister for Justice has taken. What I said about Covid is a statement of fact. The Garda College closed at least twice, which caused disruption. The Garda college is now back open. Last month alone, we saw the highest number of trainees.

The number of resignations and retirements is greater than that of recruitments.

As the Minister has said, it will take time to catch up as a result of Covid, but catching up we are. This year will see between 700 and 800 new recruits go into the Garda College. The Deputy asked what we will do to protect the welfare, well-being and terms and conditions of gardaí. This week, the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform will invite public sector unions and others to public sector pay talks. If we can achieve an outcome on that, it will benefit members of An Garda Síochána.

We have already passed legislation on bodycams. We have passed legislation to increase the maximum sentence for assaulting a garda. These were sought by the Garda representative bodies. The Minister for Justice has an incredible record including introducing stalking legislation, setting up a new domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency, a zero-tolerance plan, bodycams-----

Without enforcement.

-----and the largest Garda budget ever. These are the practical actions we are taking to build stronger, safer communities in Ireland.