Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

It is well paid.

The notion that the education of gardaí involves a group of people, who have no experience of the broader world and no other education, attending a kind of monastery in Templemore is not true any more. Anybody who wants to leave their prejudices aside should go to Templemore to learn the truth because the situation is radically different from the picture being portrayed of young gardaí as inexperienced introverts being inducted into some monastic order in a former barracks. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the course of their training they spend a considerable amount of time on the streets with community gardaí getting involved in social projects and gaining a broader view of the world. The training is not an intensive programme that cuts them off from the world. It is important to stress these points as we are in danger of debating this on the basis of an impression formed 15 or 20 years ago.

It was as big an eye-opener for me to see in Templemore the type of people becoming gardaí now, and to realise how wrong that stereotype was, as it would be to anybody else. A huge number, I believe a majority, have third level experience of some sort and have sat on bean bags with social science students discussing their philosophy of life. It is not the case that they are raw recruits with no view of the world outside what they learn in Templemore.

Senator White mentioned that she has been out and about in Dublin South-East and I wish her well in her campaign to become the Fianna Fáil nominee in the next general election.