Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The intention this year is to have 800 new recruits. We have allocated additional funding. More than €2 billion is being allocated directly to An Garda Síochána. Consequent to that, 800 new recruits will come out of Templemore. The campaign should open in the next two to three weeks. There will be a significant campaign to try to open up recruitment to as many communities as possible in order to ensure that the force is representative. We also want to ensure that as many gardaí as possible who are currently working behind desks are freed up. Through the funding, there is a commitment to have 400 additional civilian staff. The commitment will ensure that 400 extra gardaí, in addition to the 800 recruits, can be deployed in our towns and villages. One hundred and twenty recruits came out of Templemore in the past two weeks. This is increasing our number, bringing it closer to the total of 15,000. We are also committing to focusing on and expanding our Garda Reserve, which over the years has unfortunately been depleted. However, the Estimates contain a clear commitment, amounting to €1.5 million, to increase the number and to have Reserve members as part of the overall team.