John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On the previous occasion on which the Commissioner was here, I brought to his attention the difficulty with community policing in south Kilkenny and Kilkenny generally. Will he brief the committee, by writing to the clerk, if necessary, on what actions are being taken to deal with the deficit of policing presence in south Kilkenny? I reiterate that the whole issue of drugs is out of control. I would like some sort of response in that regard.

My second question relates to a memorandum of the Government in 2016. I understood at that time that Garda numbers were to be increased to 21,000, with the reserve to stand at 2,000 and civilian numbers to rise to 4,000. Community wardens were mentioned at that time, taking from the UK model. How many reservists are there in the force, how many get paid and how many have applied for the €1,000 allowance? What has happened since 2016 that those numbers have not been achieved?