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

There are a number of things that we need to do here. I have referenced some of them, for example, increasing the age at which people can apply so we have even more applying; making sure that those who want to stay on can do so, which is why increasing the retirement age is very important; and making sure that those who want to become members but potentially cannot do so because of the financial cost see an increase in the availability allowance. This is something we need to look at again coming up to this year's budget. It is also about making sure that we have the space when we need it. This is why the Garda training steering group will be looking at whether there are other measures that we need to address with regard to hybrid training and whether having another venue would potentially encourage people who are further away from Templemore to go to the college, particularly if it was closer to them.

All of these things are being worked through, as well as other measures, with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to see if we can address some of the issues that gardaí have raised. We need to make sure there is no reason for people to leave that we cannot address. The exit interviews and the strategies that we are applying post the exit interviews are to make sure that where people have raised concerns, we are addressing them in a multitude of different ways. There is no one solution here; there are many different things.

See this speech in context