Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I extend my sympathies to the family of the victim following the fatal stabbing at Rathass Cemetery near Tralee in Kerry. As the Deputy will appreciate, a Garda investigation is under way and I am confined in what I can say about it. I absolutely encourage anyone who has any information to contact the Garda and bring the people who carried out this terrible crime to justice.

On the wider point, Ireland is a country with relatively low crime levels. It is still the case that if a murder happens in Ireland, it is on the news which is not the case in most other countries. Thankfully, that is because we have a very low murder rate in Ireland and relatively low crime rates. We have never had more gardaí than is the case under this Government. At the request of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and she fought for this, last week's budget provides for another 1,000 gardaí to be recruited next year.

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