Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The good news is that the 170 who started on 9 June include some of the 6,700. This is a good sign that they are being processed quickly.

We have been expediting and changing the vetting process. People were critical about this. It used to be the case that you could not start in Templemore until you were fully vetted. Vetting took a long time, particularly for people who lived in other countries for a while. We are now letting people start in Templemore before vetting. They will still be fully vetted at the end of the process but letting them start before vetting can at least expedite it. We just need to put political pressure on those concerned, and that is what I am doing with the Commissioner and those in the Garda responsible for recruitment. It is a question of getting recruits in as fast as possible. We need to start saying that policing is a very worthwhile career and a job worth doing. It is a very interesting job by comparison with many others.