Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is an important initiative and I hope it leads to ongoing professionalisation in dealing with crime. At the first committee meeting he attended, the Commissioner said the number of gardaí who had signed up to the code of ethics was approximately 40%. Where is that now?

To return to the issue of crime, I had an exchange with the Minister for Justice and Equality today and I will hand the Commissioner correspondence at the end of the meeting. Since it reopened, the allocation of Templemore recruits received by Cork divisions is 2.4%. That is very low for a city that has many challenges and a growing population. It might not have had the same headline issues regarding gangland crime but there is violent crime, a lot of property crime and public order issues. As an example, despite the fact that it rained on bonfire night last Sunday, there were a lot of disturbances. To be frank, some of the response times were poor despite the best efforts of gardaí in the areas. It was a busy night and they were stretched. I am not sure Cork has had a fair shake, so to speak, since 2014, with 2.4% of 2,800 recruits. A bit like the Dublin metropolitan region with its challenges, these recruits have been subsumed into specialist units in Cork city division, which has meant the core units are nowhere near their full strength. There are stations that are down 12 since 2014. I will hand correspondence to the Commissioner at the end of the meeting and he might respond to me afterwards.

With regard to the welfare scheme, some gardaí joined on the basis they might be able to stay near their families. Some of the most recent complement that came out of Templemore-----