Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Those issues will be dealt with in the context of where we are moving towards. The Deputy is labouring under an illusion as to where Garda numbers might be in 12 to 18 months time. I cannot predict with certainty where numbers may be then. It may well be that next year we will have 100 more than 13,000 or 50 fewer than 13,000. As regards overall Garda strength, however, the objective is that the strength should be at 13,000 and that we will recruit to An Garda Síochána.

The Deputy may not be aware that a new training programme is in place for new recruits. The Garda Síochána has prepared that programme but has not yet had an opportunity to use it. The new student probationer training programme will be radically different and will be restructured into three phases. Phase 1 is for 32 weeks at the Garda college at the end of which successful students will be attested, i.e. become members of the Garda Síochána with full police powers. Phase 2 is for 65 weeks based in Garda stations. Phase 3 consists of seven weeks of exam preparation, exams and assessment. The programmes will now result in the award of a Bachelor of Arts level 7 degree in police studies. This is a far more sophisticated and different approach to what was there previously. The main difference between it and the earlier programme is that the new programme carries a greater emphasis on operational policing and focuses on real life scenarios which in turn prepare students better for the policing challenges they face.

The new programme will also instil a life-long learning philosophy for members of the Garda Síochána with a suite of mandatory and elective courses being made available. We are now in a different, more sophisticated and operationally-focused training programme.

See this speech in context