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

I appreciate that it has taken a little time since the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland report, but in that time a new strategy has been published. We have also gone through a pandemic, which meant that any type of recruitment, be it in Templemore or here, was near impossible. We have a new regulation which, as I said, will be with me by the end of the week and which will allow engagement with the associations to make sure everybody can work as effectively as possible with one another and that the new regulations, working with the new strategy, allow for as diverse a group as possible. That will also help to create pathways for members who then want to become members of An Garda Síochána as well, as we have seen in the past, where it has worked very well.

A huge body of work has been done, and I expect that in the new year we will have a new recruitment campaign. We have not put a limit or a target on the number; we want as many as possible. That is my overall objective for the early new year.

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