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

I had a look at the statistics on the number of gardaí leaving the force. This year and last year, we are talking about between 1% and 2% leaving. Based on the calculations we have seen to the end of March, we are probably looking at somewhere in the region of 140 gardaí resigning from the force this year and with around 14,000 on the force. That is around 1%, which is extremely low. If one looks at the corresponding figures in the UK, we see that approximately 10% resign from the police force there.

I do not want to lose any gardaí, especially when, as is currently the case, numbers are tight. We want to get numbers up to 15,000, so we cannot be in a position where gardaí are resigning. We need to ensure that we try to retain as many of them as possible. Unfortunately, and this is a compliment to An Garda Síochána, gardaí are highly employable individuals. People want to hire members of An Garda Síochána because they come with great discipline and training and are very employable in the private sector. That is why it is very important that I try to ensure the terms and conditions of offer within the public sector are as good and as attractive as possible.

Resignations are not as big an issue as I thought previously, but it is something that we need to keep a close eye on. The United States, New Zealand and Canada have all reported an increase in resignations from their police forces that are in excess of the rates that have been seen in An Garda Síochána. We need to get the recruitment numbers up because we are always going to have people who decide they want to try a different career. At present, I am trying encourage people to leave other careers and join An Garda Síochána, so we must recognise that it may work the other way as well.

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