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

In regard to Garda numbers, we want to build safer and stronger communities, and that means supporting gardaí and making sure they are supported, feel supported, and that it is a good career choice. The budget provides for 1,000 additional Garda recruits this year and we believe that will be adequate to cover retirements and resignations.

The resignation rate from An Garda Síochána is just over 1%. That may well be higher than previous years, and it is, but it is low in comparison with most organisations across the public and private sectors. Even extremely well-paying companies would see resignation rates of 4%, 5% or 6%, and that would be commonly seen across the public sector.

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That is more a reflection of the fact we have full employment, that there are so many different job opportunities for everyone and that the job for life, which was the norm for people in the past, is not the case anymore and many people want to change careers during the course of their lives.

I was interested in some of the suggestions Deputy Jim O'Callaghan made. I assure him I appreciate there is a real challenge with Garda recruitment. We are going to have a big job to secure the 1,000 recruits we voted for this year as Government parties. I have taken an interest in this and met the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice about it. Among the suggestions made was increasing the retirement age from 60 years to 62, and that is under consideration. It is a good idea. If somebody is fit, healthy and able to do the job, why should there be a particular age at which they are told they must retire? Some safeguards around competence and fitness might be needed, but once that is done, I do not see why that age limit could not be increased. The Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Harris, are working on that. A similar issue arises in the Defence Forces around people being required to retire at 50 years of age. I understand there has been a recent Workplace Relations Commission ruling on the matter of people not being able to join after the age of 35 years, so we may well see a change coming on that too.

On evictions, we in Ireland often mistakenly use the term "eviction" interchangeably with notices to quit, but they are not the same thing. It is my understanding evictions can only happen here under a court order, and therefore are actually very rare. I am sure gardaí are adequately trained to deal with that matter.

As we are talking about the Garda and respect for it, it would be remiss of me not to bring the attention of the House to a document produced recently by People Before Profit entitled The Case For A Left Government: Getting Rid of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It can be purchased for €3 online, and you even get a nice picture of me and Tánaiste on the front cover of it. In this document we are told the rich, using their control over the media, will try to turn the population against a left Government led by Deputy McDonald. It says they will deploy the police and the army to move against the elected left-wing Government. It will not just be the Garda involved in this conspiracy, but the Irish Independent, The Irish Timesand RTÉ. Even primary teachers, the GAA and taxi drivers are all part of this conspiracy to overthrow the elected left-wing Government led by Deputy McDonald-----

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