Yesterday, everyone here in the Dáil expressed sympathies on the horrific and senseless death of Grace Lynch. I raised with the Taoiseach his Government's persistent failure to keep communities safe. So many communities across the city of Dublin and the country are tormented by persistent antisocial behaviour by those who feel they can do whatever they want whenever they want and who intimidate and harass people every single day. Ask people from these communities and they will tell you that they simply do not have enough gardaí in their communities, on their streets and walking the beat. There are not enough gardaí to provide a strong, consistent, visible deterrent and a quick policing response to those who are quite literally terrifying communities 24-7.

Last night, I was at a meeting in my own constituency in the north inner city with residents of Blessington Street square and the surrounding areas. The Garda was there, as was Dublin City Council. This is a community of the finest people you could ever meet. They really look out for each other, care about their neighbourhood and want it to be a safe place to live but that is not the case. Last night's meeting was called because these people's lives are being made a misery. Every day, they are faced with open drug dealing and drug taking in front of their homes and constant low-level criminality and antisocial behaviour. It is not just people's homes. Local businesses are also under huge pressure just to stay open. There is a persistent atmosphere of intimidation and danger. This community has been robbed of its right to safety.

The single biggest ask last night was for more gardaí on the street in the community. Gardaí in the area, by the way, are doing their very best but we simply do not have enough of them. The result is that those engaged in antisocial and criminal behaviour, drug dealing and drug taking have free rein to do whatever they want. This is not the experience of just one community, although they are having a particularly hard time of it. This scourge of antisocial behaviour and the lack of gardaí to respond is something that communities everywhere will know all too well.

At this time, when communities are crying out for stronger, more visible policing, it is frankly unbelievable to me that gardaí who will be graduating next week will be prevented from starting their work. Why? Their Garda vetting has not been completed. My understanding is that up to 20 gardaí from the class graduating next week will be prevented from getting onto the streets because of this problem - that is, gardaí who are trained, qualified and ready to go, stopped from getting to work because the vetting process is not fit for purpose. You could not make this up.

The Garda vetting review was set up four years ago. It submitted its recommendations to the Minister for justice and, even though the Minister accepts there is a problem, he has failed to solve it. How many newly graduating gardaí will be prevented from starting work because their Garda vetting is incomplete? My information is that it is up to 20 from next week's graduating class. Can the Taoiseach tell me if there are more? Can he explain to every community crying out for greater Garda visibility-----

I thank the Deputy. The Taoiseach to respond.

-----how it is that we are in this situation? Can he give an explanation of that?

First of all, the Government is absolutely clear on the need to deal robustly and very firmly with antisocial behaviour. An investigation is under way and that restricts what I could say but we are very conscious of the very grave consequences that can arise from antisocial and unacceptable behaviour by people, the degree to which communities are under pressure, and the degree of anger out there in communities at the perception or sense that certain people can ignore the law. We do need to acknowledge that An Garda Síochána is bringing criminals to justice and to account very significantly in terms of the gangland scene in general but also in terms of many other crimes within communities.

The key issue for us in the post-Covid period has been visibility. The Government has a policy of very high visibility and the new Commissioner, Justin Kelly, is equally of that view. The position is improving significantly in terms of the numbers coming out of Templemore. I attended a graduation ceremony in Templemore just before Christmas. Huge and record numbers came out, to be followed up by even higher numbers going in. It is not true to say that people will not be able to go onto the streets straight away. I am informed by the Minister that they will. Some 170 are coming out of Templemore next week. They will be on the streets. I have seen it in different parts of the country. The idea has been to allocate significant numbers to given communities. Those coming out next week will be allocated to the communities the Deputy has referenced.

I accept the anger in such communities and it does work where you have high-visibility policing. The recruitment and retention is well under way. There is a Garda budget of about €2.74 billion in 2026. An extra 1,000 new gardaí will come on stream, with a doubling of the Garda Reserve as well, to over 600. We ran two recruitment campaigns in 2025. There is a steady pipeline of new recruits. Over 11,000 applications to join An Garda Síochána were received last year. We had 194 gardaí attested in November. In 2025, we had around 617 newly attested gardaí. Some 223 trainees entered Templemore in November, which is the largest intake at Templemore since 2014. The total number of trainees to enter Templemore is close to 800, the largest since 2018.

We now have a total of 14,462 gardaí across the State and we are going to continue that level and pace of recruitment on an ongoing basis and for the duration of this Government. The funding will be provided to enable that to happen. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has already had substantial discussions with the Commissioner in regard to the allocation of those resources to improve Garda visibility across our country but particularly in areas where antisocial behaviour is strongest, and also in our city and town centres, where there has been a lot of activity around drug trafficking-----

When is the Taoiseach going to tell us about the Garda vetting?

-----and also in regard to theft from shops and businesses and so on. People basically want to go about their normal lives with a sense of safety and security. Greater numbers of gardaí on the streets will help that. That is happening and it will continue to happen.

Therefore, there is no firm, robust response to anti-social behaviour. That is the stuff of fiction from the Taoiseach. There is not. Ask anybody anywhere. Ask them in Dublin's north inner city; ask them in communities across the country. This scourge goes unchallenged. Communities are telling us loudly and clearly that one of the ingredients to actually get a proper response is high visibility out on the streets and across the community but that is not happening, and it is not happening because the numbers are not there.

I asked the Taoiseach a question about Garda vetting and the fact that up to 20 in a given class of gardaí will be prevented from starting their duties because of an internal Garda process. The Minister, at the committee yesterday, confirmed that was the case.

I did not. That is wrong.

I am asking the Taoiseach to be very clear and confirm for me what the numbers are.

The Deputy is making this up.

How many gardaí are prevented from graduating because of a delay in internal Garda vetting? I would like an answer to that please.

The Deputy just said the Minister said something at the committee yesterday which the Minister has just very clear said he did not say at the committee yesterday. I cannot respond-----

Deputies, please.

It is on the record.

I cannot respond. I am not responding to assertions by the Deputy that are not soundly based. Deputy McDonald just pointed to Deputy Carthy, so she clearly did not hear the Minister saying that yesterday.

He is the Chair of the committee.

Yes but the Deputy said it as if she knew it - as if she had heard it.

The video is there.

She said it as if she had heard it.

Was the Taoiseach at the committee?

Deputy Carthy was Opposition spokesperson for defence. I know how he can exaggerate and how he can spin and he can do a lot of things like that.

Was the Taoiseach at the committee himself?

No.

Let the Taoiseach answer the question please.

Where were you?

The Minister for justice has made it clear to me he did not say that yesterday.

Will there be gardaí not attesting next Friday? The answer is "Yes".

He is saying it here and I am saying it here in the House now. I am simply saying Deputy McDonald did not hear that yesterday.

Are all gardaí Garda vetted?

I just want to make the more fundamental point-----

Answer the question.

The Deputy is not the leader yet.

Are they Garda vetted?

I want to make the more fundamental point, if I may-----

Why do you not answer the question, if you may?

The Deputies did not allow the response.

We did not get a response.

On the recruitment numbers, we are recruiting gardaí at record numbers-----

Are they vetted?

Taoiseach, the time is up.

Are they all vetted?

The answer is "No".

In Dublin city the gardaí have increased significantly and people have seen that.

I call Deputy Ivana Bacik.

You are not allowing me to answer the question.

I call Deputy Bacik.