Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that. I understand 746 trainees entered Templemore last year, representing the highest intake to the Garda College since 2018, which is welcome. Even so, in 2020, ten graduates were assigned to the Carlow district but that fell to two graduates in 2021, five in 2022 and three in 2023. We really need to address this. I understand and welcome the ongoing recruitment campaign and we will, I hope, see higher numbers go into Templemore.

Everything is changing. The world is changing. The population of Carlow, according to the most recent census data, increased by 9%, which makes it one of the fastest growing counties in the country. We need more gardaí on the ground. Community policing has a huge role to play in the context of safety. As already stated, I can only compliment gardaí in Carlow on their great work. We need more of them, however.

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