Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

On that point, I understand there are 181 superintendents, 101 of whom are eligible to retire, and 43% of the ranks of ordinary gardaí have five years service or less. Clearly, there is an emerging problem. The Minister seems reluctant to give us details of his Department's assessment of the impact of recent impositions on the public service, including the Garda Síochána. How will the early Garda retirement age affect the capacity of the management of the force to discharge its functions? The Government had set a target of having 15,000 members of the Garda by December 2009, but what does the Minister anticipate that the actual figure will be?

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