Mr. Drew Harris:

In respect of retention, I have certainly seen some of the reports about that but within our own figures, we are not seeing that as a particular trend. Undoubtedly, one of the things we are seeing is individuals who join and are in the probation phase decide that police work and what is required of them in policing are not for them and they leave. That is fair enough. That is probably wise judgment on their part. An issue of more concern is the steady trickle of people leaving the organisation to go to private employment, many of whom have particular skills, including analytical skills related to cybercrime or economic crime investigations. We make a significant investment in individuals to bring them up to speed and it is regrettable when we lose their expertise. At the same time, not all will stay away and people can apply to rejoin and we have seen that as well because we are a good employer. We offer training, advancement and promotion into other areas of work. Sometimes people find that their working conditions and overall job fulfilment were better with An Garda Síochána. It is not all a one-way street in that respect.