Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have a wonderful workforce in An Garda Síochána. As I said, my priority is to make sure we increase that workforce. The gardaí I meet are committed to their job. Many of them love the work they do. That work is not without its challenges and that is why we provided an unprecedented budget of €2 billion for the Garda alone last year. Obviously, I will be doing what I can to increase that.

It is not only about the terms and conditions, which are important. Obviously, I work with the Garda to make sure the terms and conditions are the same for all the various different public sector workers and are as good as they can be and that the gardaí have the resources they need, whether it is introducing body-worn cameras, whether it is introducing the hand-held devices to allow them do their job in a more efficient and effective way or whether it is the huge capital investments that are happening right across the country.

A huge amount of work is happening to make sure that the Garda is supported in its work. Of course, the more gardaí we have, the more that will take pressures off the system. That is why recruitment is my number one priority.

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