Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the first question as it is important we address the issue. I keep reading newspaper reports that 25,000 people have applied and we are only recruiting 300 people, but that is not right. There will be a panel arising from the applications made. This is not a once-off and I hope we are getting to a position where we can stabilise matters. As the Deputy knows, prior to 2009 it would have been the norm for a certain number to be recruited to the Garda every 12 or 18 months, with a panel existing for a period following advertisement. It is envisaged that at the end of this process, apart from the recruits I hope will enter Templemore this year, a panel will be created. It is my hope and intention that from that panel there will be further recruits entering Templemore in 2015.

It is a little previous to speak about numbers in that context as the numbers given for recruitment this year are approximate; the numbers could vary because of a range of considerations that could arise. As we come into the latter part of 2014 we will consider what may be necessary in the 2015 context. I hope the perception generated that 25,000 people are applying for only 300 or 350 places has been counteracted. That information is not correct and a panel will be created.

The Deputy asked how long the panel will remain in existence. We have not made a final decision on the period that the panel will exist. We will make the decision at some point. I am open to correction from my officials but my recollection is that panels were created without a particular announcement made on the length of life that a panel would have. People would be recruited from the panel and after a certain period had elapsed and when it seemed reasonable, matters would be advertised for new applicants and a new panel would be created. Being on the panel does not guarantee an individual that he or she would enter Templemore. The chances would depend on the number of people on the panel and where the person featured.

Financial figures are influenced by the Haddington Road agreement and the changes effected by it. This is not an exact science and I do not have a crystal ball, so I cannot predict with certainty how many members of the force will retire this year, required overtime, special events that need special security arrangements or emergencies. There is a range of issues that make this part of the Estimates a very inexact science. We have set out where matters stand in the context of the Estimates. I recall last year the Deputy and I had a exchange on the issue. I do not know if it generated from this type of meeting or an exchange on Question Time but there were all kinds of interesting newspaper headlines to the effect that we would run out of money to pay the Garda by the autumn. Even some of the Garda representative bodies were saying that. There is no question of running out of money to pay the gardaí. We have Estimates and they are our best guess or assessment as to where we are. There is a range of imponderable and unidentifiable circumstances that could arise and produce a variance.

Should it be necessary to provide for a Supplementary Estimate, we can do so; the Deputy knows this as we did so recently, and a proportion of what was required came out of savings from other parts of my Department's Estimates. I cannot predict this with absolute certainty but I hope we will not enter into another public exchange and that we will not find incorrect media headlines of an alarmist nature, suggesting that members of the force may towards the end of the year not get paid. It is not an issue and there was never a question of that. I hope what was said about that last year has established the untruth in that issue, and I hope we will not see it appear again on the horizon.