Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Will the Deputy let me answer the question? What the public is concerned about is the quality of the garda on the street. Fortunately, the quality of the gardaí on the street in this country is excellent. They are fully vetted, more than any other official in the public service. They are vetted thoroughly. What is happening is we are changing the sequencing of the process. The reason we are doing that is to try to speed it up. Part of the problem is the fact that many people have spent time abroad. They have been in Australia and other parts of the world. Garda management have to find out about them when they have been away for two or three years. That takes time.

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