Catherine Callaghan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I thank the witnesses for coming in and giving us their time. I echo the sentiments of my colleagues and mention Detective Garda Horkan and remember Garda Flatley.

I will raise community policing as well. I note some of the words that were used such as "despair" among members of An Garda Síochána and, in particular, the mention of the personal touch of policing. Even though I had a range of other questions I wanted to ask, the debate got me thinking about my experience with An Garda Síochána was when I was a young person. I remember vividly my dad saying that if I was ever lost, I should ask a garda, and if I did not know what time it was, I should ask a garda. I have never said that to my children. That is a stark reminder of how we as a society view An Garda Síochána, the service it provides to the State and the protection it provides to our citizens.

I spoke to many gardaí before I came to this meeting.

I tried a get a sense of what the issues are on the ground, which the organisations are here to represent as well. In particular, what came up consistently was the lack of manpower and womanpower. How we solve that will not be easy. It is a complex issue. It is almost a chicken-and-egg situation. From listening to Garda members, due to lack of numbers, we do not have community police, which is the core. They are the people who can, for example, if Mrs. Maguire has a fall, send a garda who hears that to call in to ask her how she is. A young person might then say, "That is the garda who called on my granny to ask how she was after the fall". It builds up that respect, reputation and feeling of security that An Garda Síochána provides. In an ideal world, I would love to see that return. That might help with recruitment and retention. I know, from listening to gardaí, that the pension issue is a real concern, but not because it is so low. It is a concern because it is so low relative to the expectation of the role. I am a former member of the Defence Forces so I understand the service and the duty to serve the country and its citizens.

In thinking about the members the organisations represent, can it be said there has been a correlation between the reduction in community gardaí and instances of assault on their members?