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

I assure the Deputy one of my top priorities has been to increase the number of gardaí overall as well as to get our college up and running, having had to close it because of Covid-19 and the health challenges there. To increase numbers and get recruitment back to what it was, I have done a number of things. I have provided significant funding, increased the age at which people can join and doubled the allowance people get when they go into the college. We are making sure we can keep more gardaí until 62, if that is what they choose. As well as that, I have increased funding for staff. Having more staff frees up gardaí to go out on the front line. For the first time in seven years, a recruitment campaign for a new Garda Reserve opened this year and funding has been provided in the budget.

The majority of our new recruits have gone to Dublin. That is not excluding other parts of the country but is an acknowledgement by the Garda Commissioner and the teams that, given the huge population, a huge proportion of gardaí have gone to those areas. It is a matter for the local chief superintendent and the teams as to where they are allocated. The more gardaí we have, the more positions like this can be filled, and that will continue to be a priority.

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