Naoise Ó Cearúil (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While I appreciate that the Minister will be consulting with his counterparts in the UK, at a time when we have an acute shortage of gardaí and require additional officers, there are members of the PSNI who wish to become gardaí. They are living in the Republic and commuting to the North. They are ready-made police officers ready to act.

There are many such members. One in particular who I am aware of has been writing to and speaking with the PSNI, An Garda Síochána, the Department of Justice and the Policing Authority for over ten years seeking a pathway of transfer from the PSNI to An Garda Síochána. We have an invisible border on this island. This is a situation where consultation further down the line is not sufficient for existing members of the PSNI who wish to become members of An Garda Síochána.

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