Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for reading the script. It does not really address my concerns. I appreciate he is not the direct Minister but 15,000 gardaí - when are we going to get realistic? There was a report on Dublin city centre recently where they want 1,000 more gardaí. It is laughable. There are gardaí looking to retire all the time. I know of gardaí who are now looking at having a cost-neutral retirement and will sacrifice a certain percentage of their gratuity and pension to get the hell out of their job because they want to go at 50. They will not stay on any longer. It will cost them money but will probably help them in the long term from a life perspective. That is where we are at. Gardaí are leaving the force all the time. Trainee gardaí are leaving before they qualify. We had a situation last year - I saw it at the committee - where the number of gardaí coming into Templemore was manufactured because the last batch were put in just before the new year to register them for this year. This is not being taken seriously - the pay and conditions, working conditions and resources. Do the Commissioner and senior management have the backs of gardaí? I look at what is going on in Limerick and the mid-west with gardaí and I wonder why would you join. Then, I look at why so many are leaving and I see why. They are leaving because this is no longer a vocation as it was in the past. There are easier ways to make a living. The volume of hassle and the concern your family members have for you now as a garda are so deep people are not choosing it and the people with experience are leaving. The brain drain is huge and the Government is not addressing it.

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