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

I thank the Deputy for raising these important matters relating to the Garda. I look forward to an early meeting with the Garda Commissioner in order that I have a chance to tease through some of these issues with him. We are in the process of reforming oversight of the Garda to establish the new office of the police ombudsman and I hope that reformed office will complete investigations into complaints in a more timely way. It is absolutely right that Garda members should be held to account but the fact that complaints can take years to be investigated is unfair. Those investigations can be left hanging over people. We hope it will become a speedier operation.

We have negotiated pay increases for Garda members, as the Deputy will be aware. Those increases are kicking in at the moment. They were accepted by the relevant organisations by very large majorities.

Recruitment and training of Garda members was significantly and understandably disrupted during the Covid restrictions but despite those restrictions, gardaí continued to be trained and attested during the pandemic, albeit in smaller numbers than we had planned. While the Commissioner is operationally responsible, the Government is committed to delivering the necessary resources to the Garda Síochána and bringing the total number of Garda members up to 15,000 and beyond.

Budget 2023 provides for funding to enable 200 recruits to enter the Garda College every three months. I was pleased that 92 new trainees entered the college at the end of November. Some 369 gardaí attested in 2022, bringing the total number who have completed their training this year to nearly 500. Despite a competitive jobs market, I take great confidence from the significant levels of interest shown in the most recent Garda recruitment campaign and take confidence in knowing that a further recruitment campaign next year will ensure a pipeline of suitable candidates.

As of the end of the end of October, there were 14,200 members of the Garda across the country. In 2015, there were 12,860. We have seen a meaningful increase in the number of gardaí in the past six or seven years. The Garda is also now supported by over 3,000 Garda staff, which is a 50% increase on the numbers five years ago. That has freed up more than 800 Garda members from back-office duties to front-line policing.

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