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

I have explained in the Dáil why I do not think this idea of a moratorium linked to four consecutive months of a particular index falling is the right way to go. I explained that last week. I will be happy to explain it to her in writing if she so wishes.

I am advised by the Whip that over the past week and this week we will have 15 hours of debate in total on this issue, housing, and the end of the winter eviction moratorium. I think 15 hours is a lot. I think it is enough, but of course Deputies and parties are free to use their own time this week and when we come back after the Easter recess to discuss the issue, if they wish to have further debate, but 15 hours is a lot of time for any debate and we have a lot of other business and things on the agenda as well to do.

Garda recruitment is something we would be happy to provide time for. I do not think it has been discussed yet. Our recruitment campaign has begun for this year. We have set the target of recruiting 1,000 new gardaí this year. That will be tough, but that is what we are committed to doing. We are confident that the number of gardaí we recruit this year will exceed the number of retirements and resignations, so we will have more gardaí not fewer this year. While it might be unusual for the Garda, a resignation rate of about 1% from any organisation is not high. For most organisations across the public and private sectors, resignation rates of 5% or 6% are the norm, and for police forces across the world it is much higher.

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