I wish to raise the issue of the chronic shortage of gardaí on the ground in County Tipperary. Despite the rising population and the increase in immigration, Garda numbers are in a worrying decline. As of 30 April 2024, the force stands at a total of 14,000-odd members, with just over 11,050 serving as rank-and-file gardaí. This is in stark contrast to the overall strength of 14,750 in March 2020, when the Government took office. Deputy Humphreys has served as Minister for Justice. There are an extra 300,000 people in the country now but we are down 1,000 rank-and-file gardaí. The situation in County Tipperary is chronic. It is the same all over the country. Single gardaí are called out to the most heinous and desperate situations. Last week, in my county, a sole garda was called out and was lucky to survive an awful situation to which he should not have been expected to go. The Minister, the Commissioner and the various superintendents and assistant commissioners must take responsibility. They are endangering the lives of gardaí by not having support for them. Officers are going out into all kinds of situations and dealing with terrible episodes. That is not acceptable.

The top priority of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, is supporting stronger, safer communities. That includes an ongoing focus on increasing the strength of An Garda Síochána. As the Deputy knows, only recently there was a further campaign to get more reserve gardaí on board. I met one of these individuals in recent days. They have been making a huge contribution to local policing efforts in my county of Monaghan. I assure the Deputy that this Government is committed to increasing the number of gardaí.