Mr. Drew Harris:

There are very positive elements although, while we are recruiting, there are also cessations from the organisation. This year more than 700 will enter Templemore and about 300 will leave, so there is a net gain of well over 400 Garda members. Similarly, next year, our plans are around a particularly big recruitment of Garda staff who will displace officer members out to operational duty, but we will also have a growth next year in terms of Garda officers. That is a very strong position to be in. While there is an issue around the money for this, and as that is all being worked through I cannot give the precise figures, this time next year we will be many hundreds ahead in our overall headcount, so that is positive.

In terms of promotions, I will have to inquire about the specific situation in Dundalk. We have 172 promotions to sergeant and, in effect, they took up their roles last week. If there is still a gap in Dundalk, I will inquire about that and see what can be done. We will then report that to the committee. In respect of vehicles, this is an issue for us but there is ongoing investment in that regard.