Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has just spoken about the recruitment campaign and he has indicated there will be 300 recruits in two batches. Will the ongoing recruitment campaign, which has seen in excess of 25,000 applications, have a panel? How long will the panel remain in existence for people to be recruited? The Minister indicated there will be 300 recruits for 2014 but what numbers are envisaged for 2015 and 2016?

With regard to payroll, the estimate has dropped from €948 million to €863 million. What is the underlying head count for that figure? The Haddington Road agreement will have something to do with the reduction. The Minister has indicated he does not know the projected number of retirements this year but how is that factored in? We had this debate on the Supplementary Estimate at the end of last year and we examined how An Garda Síochána does its manpower or resource planning while meeting objectives in the annual policing plan. Will we return at the end of the year with a Supplementary Estimate for pay for serving members of An Garda Síochána?