Mr. Ronan Slevin:

The Commissioner has only a certain amount of resources to play with, unfortunately. We have had a steady stream of members retiring and resigning in recent years and the figures coming into the job are barely matching those figures. As Mr. Clogher has alluded to, a lot of the new probationers go to Dublin, which, in turn, releases other members to transfer down the country. I am not able to comment on where or how they are allocated. That is a matter for the Commissioner. This issue is against the background of limited numbers coming in, which barely match the numbers going out, unfortunately.