Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I thank the witnesses for their opening statements. I will invite members to indicate. I again convey our sympathies to the memberships of the organisations here on the tragic death of Garda Kevin Flatley.

One of the notable aspects of both statements is the different numbers in respect of optimum levels of Garda membership, with the GRA stating 17,000 and the AGSI stating 18,000. That is a far cry from where Garda management has set a target, and an even further cry from where we currently are. In the associated documents provided, it is referenced that only 120 new members came out of Templemore in the most recent intake. We asked the Commissioner about that last week. He indicated that it was a problem with processes that had been resolved. I would like the witnesses to comment in respect of the optimum numbers and how we get there under the current training regime. I do not know who would like to answer that.