Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I did not make such a commitment. I dealt with this issue the last time I was in the House for question time. At the time the draft heads of the Bill were being published, there was a Government freeze on any further recruitment to the Garda Síochána above 12,200. I told the AGSI that I would never use a reserve as a substitute to arrive at the 14,000 member mark, which was promised in the programme for Government. As things stood at that time, it was unlikely that any recruiting of the reserve would be done in the life of this Government. Things changed——

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