Mr. Ronan Slevin:

It is undeniable that resignations are on a worrying upward trend. There have been 116 so far this year. It will probably top out at 150. If we combine that with the retention issue, keeping people in the job when they reach retirement age is a big issue. All of that comes back to the morale issues in An Garda Síochána. It cannot be denied. The GRA conducted exit interviews of 40 members who left in the past 18 months, and 100% said that morale is the biggest issue in the job. Our biggest issue is trying to convince the Commissioner that there is a problem with morale. His insistence that there is no morale issue is a problem, when it comes to dealing with the problem. You have to recognise the problem before you accept there is one. That goes back into the myriad of issues we have relating to welfare and pensions. Pension provisions for all new entrants since 2013 mean that when members retire they will probably just about get €12,000 per year. That is insufficient, especially in view of the fact they are currently forced to retire at 60. They have six years before they hit retirement age and gain access to the old-age pension. That is a huge issue for members. When new members realise this, it is one of the reasons they leave. There is an over-reliance on discipline as a training tool. People are afraid to do their job. Members are working in an intense environment and dangerous situations, as we have mentioned already. They are being recorded and every action they take is being put up on social media. On top of that, people fear that if they step out of line in any way or make a mistake, they will be disciplined as a result. They could lose their job as a result of that discipline. All of those issues go together when it comes to people making their minds up to resign. While we are at a loss as to why people are not joining, retention is something the Commissioner can address immediately by giving members a proper work-life balance, reducing the amount of bureaucracy attached to their core functions and addressing the issues of morale.