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

I assure the Deputy that I will take it in hand and it is a priority for me as Taoiseach and for this Government to build safer and stronger communities. That involves increasing the number of gardaí and investing in our Defence Forces, the Courts Service and the Irish Prison Service.

It also involves dealing with the underlying causes of crime which are very much linked to poverty and deprivation, and other matters too. We are making a priority of this. As I mentioned earlier, the Garda is funded in the budget to recruit 1,000 gardaí this year. We believe this will be more than enough to cover retirements and resignations. That will lead to a net increase in the number of gardaí this year as we move towards the target of 15,000. Only this week, I will be having a meeting on the issue of Garda stations. A number of projects have been held up for far too long in different places in the country and we are trying to get movement on them as well.

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