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

I am absolutely committed to working with all members of An Garda Síochána at all ranks and levels to address the issues of concern to them. That will continue, irrespective of any meetings this week or otherwise. I have made that very clear to the representative organisations. I am committed to working with the Garda Commissioner as well to make sure gardaí have the resources they need to do their extremely important work of keeping people safe.

I will now set out the facts in relation to resignations. While we have seen an increase in the number of gardaí resigning, and I do not want to see that increase continuing, the figures are still low, objectively, in comparison with other police organisations. The rate of resignations is running at around 1%. There has been an increase of 0.3% since 2022. In saying that, I am not dismissing the fact that there has been an increase. In comparison with other policing organisations and given the fact that we are at full employment, it is, however, a relatively low number, albeit one we want to see decrease.

People choose to change careers for a wide variety of reasons. Younger people, in particular, are less likely to spend 30 or 40 years in the same job. We are probably all in that situation and every industry is seeing movement in a way that did not happen in times past. An Garda Síochána is no different in that regard. Gardaí nowadays are often highly educated before entering Templemore, with recruits holding undergraduate degrees or higher. They then graduate with a bachelor’s degree in applied policing on completion of their Garda training and often continue to add to these qualifications. They are highly trusted and highly employable individuals by reason of their experience and the skills and judgment they develop as members of An Garda Síochána. It is often the case that they leave to go to other parts of the public service, which is welcome for the institutions or agencies in question but we obviously want to do what we can to keep them in the force.

One of the most important issues is making sure we have as many members of An Garda Síochána as possible. One issue that gardaí raise with me as regards the pressure they are under is their feeling that there are not enough of them to do the work they have to do. That is why the main focus and priority need to be on making sure that overall Garda numbers are increasing. That in itself will help gardaí in the work they are doing and relieve some of the pressure they feel they are under at the moment.

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