Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Donnelly. He pre-empted my response because it is the truth. It is an operational matter for the Garda Commissioner to decide on the allocation of resources. I am not sure if a Sinn Féin Government would propose a different way, whereby the Government would decide where gardaí go. The Garda Commissioner will do so. We accept our responsibility, which is to increase Garda numbers. That is why we have a series of recruitment campaigns. This year, 6,300 people applied to join An Garda Síochána. We have increased the Garda training allowance by two-thirds and the age of entry has been increased to 50. We will shortly enact legislation to increase the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 62. In addition, we have commenced a recruitment campaign for the Garda Reserve to complement the work of fully qualified gardaí. We are increasing Garda numbers. We know more needs to be done, but progress is being made.

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