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

The unprecedented allocation of more than €2.3 billion to An Garda Síochána in this year's budget demonstrates a 23% increase since 2020. That demonstrates the Government's and my commitment to ensuring gardaí have the provision for the equipment, technology, facilities, fleet and above all, personnel that it needs to carry out its vital policing work. Since the reopening of the Garda College in 2014 a total of 143 new recruits have been assigned to the Meath division. This has contributed to the number of gardaí in the Meath division growing by almost 15% since 2015. A further Garda attestation will take place this Friday, with a further allocation of gardaí due then. At the end of August this year there were 318 Garda members assigned to the Meath division. This includes 259 gardaí, 44 sergeants and ten inspectors. In addition, 45 Garda staff were assigned to the Meath division which represents a very significant increase of 73% in the same period. I hope these numbers will continue to increase as we have allocated additional funding for civilian staff in this year's budget too.

I am advised that as less than ten gardaí have resigned in County Meath in each of the years referenced, it is not the practice to report in this kind of detail because it could allow for individuals to be identified. However, we have taken all three years collectively. Over the three years, 13 members of An Garda Síochána have resigned from the Meath division. I am grateful to all of those men and women who have given exceptional service to this community. It is 13 members more than I would like or that the Deputy would like to see leaving. What is important is that we understand why people have left, be it in the past year or the past three years. That is why An Garda Síochána is conducting exit interviews, to see what more we can do to respond to the reasons for leaving. Some will have left for their own personal reasons but others will have left because of challenges in the job because it is an extremely difficult and challenging job. My role is to make sure that I provide the resources and put the supports in place to support gardaí. It is also notable that many of the major crime categories in County Meath have fallen in the most recent crime statistics. Most notably burglary has fallen by 38%. Overall I am committed to providing a steady pipeline of Garda members for the whole country and that of course includes my own county and the Deputy's County Meath.

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