Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that gardaí all over the country are under a lot of pressure. As our population increases, we need to increase the number of gardaí as well. The number of gardaí is now over 14,000, up from 12,800 back in 2015 when it was at its lowest in recent years.

Funding is available to recruit 1,000 new gardaí this year. There will also be additional Garda staff. It is reasonable to point out that of the 14,000 sworn gardaí in An Garda, approximately 100 resigned last year. That is a resignation rate of about 1%. In the modern world, where people tend not to have jobs for life in the way they did, a 1% resignation rate in an organisation is well below average.

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