Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The 300 recruits will make a difference and the first lot of recruits will pass out in May. I was delighted to open the recruitment programme again because it had not been opened since 2009. We have a very enthusiastic group of trainees and a huge number of people applied to join the Garda.

As I have said, I want ongoing seamless recruitment because that is the best way of ensuring we have new people joining. We also want to make sure we keep training people at Templemore College and ensure the right number of people are trained. There is an ideal number of students that the college likes to train every year. As recruits begin to leave Templemore, and there is a possibility that training will continue for new recruits, I will have discussions with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform on the matter. As Deputy Mac Lochlainn rightly stated, a key aspect of planning is the number of gardaí who retire and anticipating that number.