Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 31 March 2022

Public Accounts Committee

2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 20 - An Garda Síochána

9:30 am

Mr. Drew Harris:

They had to come back and finish their training, so it was not optimal and it was a response to pressure on the college. We had to close the college because of the risk of transmission and, at that time, it was thought that the college might have to be used as emergency accommodation. We were forced into that and to either, in effect, send them home or bring them online, so they were brought online. They were always accompanied by other members and when they went back into their training regime, because they had context around what they were learning, the college assessed that their ability to understand and to learn was actually improved.