Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not often agree with Deputy Wallace, as the record will show, but he is absolutely right that there was something of a challenge having regard to the cessation of recruitment and the closure, albeit temporarily, of the Garda training college. That resulted in a situation where gardaí were retiring on an annual basis but no new recruits were coming on-stream. Thankfully, we are gone beyond that and since the Garda College reopened, we have seen a total of 1,400 new Garda recruits, all of whom are now working across the country as fully fledged members of An Garda Síochána. We have in the region of 800 recruits on an annual basis and we have the funding to allow a further 800 next year.

Allowing for a retirement cohort of approximately 300, I estimate this will give us a net extra 500 gardaí on the streets throughout the country. By the end of this year, I expect the total figure to be approximately 13,500. We are working steadily towards the target of a total workforce of 21,000 by 2021.

Of course, the Deputy is right and I understand the point he is making. New gardaí coming out of Templemore, fully attested and assigned their duties, should release the pressure on Garda overtime. We will have more numbers in stations and a greater level of visibility. That will allow the Garda to manage the overtime in a way that is somewhat different to the current situation.

I agree that in terms of quality of life, the optimum is something in the region of a 40-hour week. That is accepted throughout the economy and society. A situation where we have a permanent built-in overtime allowance might conflict with what might be regarded as a normal week's work. I expect that as more recruits come on stream and as the numbers rise steadily – they will continue to rise steadily - in the coming years, we will have less reliance on an overtime bill. Deputy Wallace is suggesting that bill is spiralling out of control.