Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I apologise, as I was late in coming in for his opening remarks. In regard to An Garda Síochána and the additional funding put in place, the real issue as I see it across the entire process here is about recruitment and retention in the first instance. It is really turning into a crisis situation. I acknowledge the targets the Government have had but those targets have fallen short because we have an issue with being able to recruit and also about being able to retain the people who are recruited. I hope there will be an analysis taking place somewhere within this to try to find out what needs to be done to ensure that people sign up to join An Garda Síochána and that we are able to recruit the numbers that we require.

The training allowance, which is very low, is one of the issues, because people are not able to manage on that. Certainly, if they have to pay for rental accommodation or anything else, it is ridiculous. It is below what a person would get in a jobseeker's payment. It needs to be acknowledged that work has to be done on that.

What can be done for long-term retention? It is similar to the situation which the Minister had experience of in the health service. We had many people working in the health service who were in situations, particularly in hospitals, where there were not enough nurses to do the job, so they felt under pressure, were not able to do the job and simply pulled out of it. It is similar in An Garda Síochána. I have spoken to members of the Garda at length. They tell me of situations where they are called to an incident and they know they need at least four or five personnel but they only have two. The two arrive, are abused and attacked, and are not able to manage the situation. It destroys their morale, competence and capability to be able to react to similar situations. I think the primary issue is in regard to recruitment and retention.

I acknowledge the work that has been done in regard to additional equipment, particularly the body cameras and so on. That is progress which needs to happen and should have happened much sooner. Unless a grip is got on this and there is a plan as to where and how An Garda Síochána will be able to recruit more members and retain those members, we will move into a crisis.