Of the 126 gardaí who came out of Templemore last year, just one came to Cork. That continues a trend that has been going on for some time. Of the 237 new gardaí so far this year, only four are going to Cork. As I said, this is a quite worrying trend of Cork not getting its fair shake. We have approximately 10% of the population but are consistently getting just 1% or 2% of those who come out of Templemore. That is against the background of a very serious shooting last week and a number of other very serious incidents. Surely, the Tánaiste will agree that one garda out of 126 is not anywhere near adequate for Cork. Will he make representations, both in his role as Tánaiste and as a constituency TD, to ensure that Cork gets Garda resources? We have places such as Mahon, which has many fewer gardaí than it did ten years ago, and Carrigaline, where only one squad car might be out at night for a town of 16,000. It is simply not enough.

Covid-19 affected the numbers going through the training college. The numbers in Templemore now continue to increase. Approximately 500 trainees are currently in the system, with one more class due into Templemore on 27 December. Approximately 237 new gardaí have attested so far this year. The new attestation schedule is for 12 January. We are on track to have between 700 or 800 new recruits into the college in 2023. In that context, I will talk to the Minister for Justice and will make representations to the Commissioner in respect of additional gardaí for the Cork area.