Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Chambers for poking us all on this particular issue. The Garda Reserve is a very valuable resource in this country that is absolutely not tapped into. I thank Senator Boyhan for his contribution. This is an issue that Senator McDowell has been raising for the last number of years and nothing has been done - absolutely nothing has been done on this. The Garda Commissioner has done nothing on it. That is the reality of it. It is now a depleted force. There are approximately 300 people in our Garda Reserve programme at present. A person can enter into the Garda Reserve from the ages of 18 to 60. It is a voluntary role, but if a person does do more than 200 hours, he or she can get a contribution of €1,000 towards expenses or something like that. That is actually part of the scheme as well. There is no reason these people cannot be doing administrative roles, however. There is no reason why we cannot bring retired gardaí back and maybe give them a tax rebate on their pension or something like that to take up some Garda Reserve roles. There are loads of ways in which we can increase participation in the Garda Reserve programme but there does not seem to be a will to do that. Whether it is the Minister or the Garda Commissioner, we need to do much more to increase the numbers we have within our Garda Reserve force at this moment. Those people may lead on to join the Garda down the line, but they may not. It is a very valuable resource that this Government is not tapping into, however, and nor is the Garda Commissioner. The Minister needs to find out why and if not, why not, and what he is going to do about it.