Mr. Drew Harris:

I will answer the first point about the protection of members on duty. We welcome the body-worn camera initiative, and the legislation going through in terms of the provision of that equipment. That will definitely advance the safety of members of An Garda Síochána, not just in terms of the physical risk but the amount of abuse they face every day. They have a record of that and it is recorded. It also gives us, at least on balance, an idea of the number of times that members of An Garda Síochána are being recorded, which footage may then be put up on social media and so on. I point to the budget secured for additional and new body armour, and the upgrade of equipment provided to the emergency response unit, ERU, and armed support unit, who deal with the most critical incidents. We also welcome the recent increase to 12 years in the maximum sentence for assault on a member of An Garda Síochána and other emergency services, including the ramming of Garda vehicles, which has unfortunately become prevalent.

I will ask Ms Cooke to speak to the issue of welfare. A huge amount of work has been undertaken in that area. It is an area we take very seriously, and we have been really adaptive and at the leading edge in terms of what we have done.